The Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, has initiated a civil suit against the Convener of the #FixTheCountryMovement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, for defamatory statements made against him.
Mr Kan-Dapaah contends that the remarks uttered by Mr Barker-Vormawor, claiming that the minister offered him US$1 million and a government appointment to cease his activism, lack any supporting evidence and are intended to diminish him in the minds of right thinking members of society.
He is therefore requesting the court to compel Barker-Vormawor to issue an apology and retract the defamatory statements, along with a “permanent injunction restraining the defendant from making similar or other statements against the
plaintiff.”
Additionally, the minister is seeking to recover a total of GH¢10,000,000 in general damages, including aggravated and/or exemplary damages for defamation, as a result of the statements made by Mr Barker-Vormawor.
Mr Barker-Vormawor, in an interview with the media during a demonstration, claimed that government officials, including Mr Kan-Dapaah, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and a Brigadier General, offered him and his group US$1 million at a secure location to halt their activism.
This assertion was refuted by the Ministry of National Security.
Following the denial, Mr Barker-Vormawor insisted on the existence of a recorded conversation with the Minister for National Security from a secret meeting that took place even before the first FixTheCountry protest in 2021.
He claimed, contrary to earlier assertions that it was at this meeting that the money was allegedly offered.
This prompted the minister to institute the lawsuit against the FixtheCountry Convener.
According to the statement of claim submitted by the minister’s legal counsel to the court, the defendant had no basis whatsoever for the defamatory statements and demonstrated extreme recklessness by making them without any supporting evidence.
It was noted that the minister had never engaged in any exclusive private meeting with the defendant, either alone or with others, except for meetings involving other government officials and leaders of the FixtheCountry group.
BY TIMES REPORTER
