New Statesman, GAB Productions Limited sued GH¢30 million
The Editor of the New Statesman newspaper and its publisher, GAB Productions Limited, have been jointly sued for GH¢30 million by the Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Springfield Group of Companies, Mr Kevin Okyere, for defamation.
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The suit, which was filed at an Accra High Court on September 30, is for general and exemplary damages for a headline published in the September 25, 2015 issue of the New Statesman: “Kevin, the Handsome Ghanaian Millionaire and Nigeria’s Beautiful $20bn ex-Petroleum Minister”.
Mr Okyere and Springfield Energy, the plaintiffs who describe the libellous words as defamatory of them, are also seeking costs, as well as an injunction restraining the defendants, “their agents or servants from further publishing or causing to be published any such defamatory or similar defamatory words of the plaintiffs”.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs averred that “the defendants and each of them printed and published or caused to be printed and published of the plaintiffs the following false, vicious and libellous words, defamatory of the plaintiffs”.
Statement of claim
They also stated that the words complained of sought to suggest that contracts awarde the second plaintiff in Nigeria and Ghana were questionable and procured through improper means.
“In consequence, the first plaintiff’s personal, professional and political reputation has been seriously damaged and he has suffered considerable distress and embarrassment, including numerous phone calls from his bankers, family, friends, business associates, lawyers, clients and various FM stations on the publication and other anonymous calls,” the statement of claim stated.
The plaintiffs also indicated that they had suffered a heavy hit on their business and been accused by the publication to have breached the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act which, as persons engaged in internal business, they were obliged to comply with.
They, therefore, maintained that unless restrained by the court, the defendants and each of them would further publish or cause to be published the said or similar words, defamatory of them.
