Assin Central Lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong has filed an appeal against Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako in a defamation suit that the latter earlier won against the former.
The application for an appeal dated 5th May 2023, said “Among the primary issue in contention on this appeal is a commentary made by the applicant [Kennedy Agyapong] about the respondent’s [Kwaku Baako] involvement in galamsey activities by intervening on behalf of a company called C&G Aleska.
“The said intervention had to do with the defendant [Kennedy Agyapong] calling on the Minister for Environment Science, Technology and Innovation who was the Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) to allow C&G Aleska to go back on site and continue its illegal mining activities although its license had been revoked confirming respondent’s [Kwaku Baako] influence peddling which also amounts to his involvement in galamsey.
“The said intervention resulted in the applicant’s [Kennedy Agyapong] commentary that the respondent [Kwaku Baako] was also involved in galamsey. That during the trial the applicant’s [Kennedy Agyapong] effort to get the Chairman of the IMCIM [Frimpong-Boateng] to testify and corroborate the same proved futile, therefore, resulted in the applicant [Kennedy Agyapong] unable to prove his defense of true, fair comment and thus justified.
“On the 18th day of April 2023, the applicant [Kennedy Agyapong] chanced upon a confidential document from the Office of the President of Ghana with an attached report prepared by Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng which intrinsically addressed the applicant’s [Kennedy Agyapong]concerns and the role played by the respondent [Kwaku Baako] on behalf of C&G Aleska which was involved in galamsey activities.”
Background
It is recalled that Mr Agyapong accused Mr. Baako and investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of engaging in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) with a company C & G Aleska Company Ltd.
Unhappy with the allegations, Mr Baako sued Mr Agyapong and demanded GHS25 million in general damages from Kennedy Agyapong.
Kweku Baako in his suit complained that Mr. Agyapong in July 2018 made some defamatory comments against him on some radio stations including his own media platforms Net2 TV and Oman FM.
Mr. Baako said the MP accused him of being corrupt, being a hypocrite, and dishonest among others.
“Look, I have dared Kweku Baako. He is a very corrupt guy. Where is his paper? Kweku Baako is very corrupt; Kweku Baako is very corrupt in his paper. Kweku Baako is not a clean man that President would tolerate in his office anymore…. I said I have concluded that Kweku Baako is not clean…He’s a hypocrite….. Kweku Baako is not an honest man at all………I said he’s not a saint. Kweku Baako is not a saint. He’s evil…… Very evil man…He’s a very evil man,” Mr. Agyapong said these, according to Kweku Baako’s writ.
The court on Friday, June 26, 2020, gave Mr. Agyapong 30 days to retract and apologise to Kweku Baako three times on the platforms he used to defame the veteran journalist on.
Instead of the GHS25 million demanded by Kweku Baako, the court awarded GHS100,000 damages instead and a cost of GHS30,000.