Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a prominent private legal practitioner who is the senior partner at Africa Legal Associates and chairman of Asaase Radio, has sued the MP for Bia East in the Western North Region, Richard Acheampong (National Democratic Congress), for defamation.
Otchere-Darko’s complaint is in connection with comments that the MP made during a radio discussion on an Accra-based radio station.
On Monday 17 August 2020, during a live interview on Neat FM, Acheampong accused Otchere-Darko of engaging in the criminal capture and dissipation of public funds by being the actual owner of or a shareholder in Agyapa Royalties Ltd, a company established by the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), which in turn is solely owned by the Government of Ghana.
“Background checks”
During the interview, Acheampong said: “And we asked: ‘Why is it that our natural resources – our share of the rights that generations yet unborn must come to meet and use for legacies – why are we squandering all now?’ And that we do not understand it.
“When you do some background checks about Agyapa [meaning Agyapa Royalties Ltd, which is wholly owned by the MIIF, which in turn is wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of Ghana], it used to be called Asaase Ventures, and we know that Akufo-Addo’s [meaning the President of the Republic’s] nephew Gabby Otchere-Darko [that is, the plaintiff] has established an FM station called Asaase FM.
“So when you look at it carefully, the deal has got something to do with the president and his family. So we were asking how come we didn’t get any company but going for only that company.”
Aggravated damages
The contention of the plaintiff (Gabby Otchere-Darko) is that “at all material times the defendant (Richard Acheampong) was a Member of Parliament and he had express knowledge of the passing of Act 978, the establishment of the Minerals Income Investment Fund, and the incorporation of Agyapa Royalties Ltd”.
The statement of claim by the plaintiff further says that “the defendant well knew that the Minerals Income Investment Fund and Agyapa Royalties Limited are state-owned entities, with an intended initial public offering of 49% of the shares of the latter entity on the London Stock Exchange. The defendant well knew that the Minerals Income Investment Fund and Agyapa Royalties Limited are not owned, wholly or partly, by the plaintiff.”
Gabby Otchere-Darko is therefore praying the court, among other things, to award him general damages for libel contained in the defendant’s publication of the plaintiff and aggravated damages arising from libel published by the defendant against the plaintiff.
Wilberforce Asare
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