Oliver Barker-Vormawor
A High Court in Accra has given the convener of the #FixTheCountry Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, another opportunity to file a defence to a suit filed against him by the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
This was after the defendant was unable to comply with the court’s previous order on him to file same.
The minister sued the controversial activist in September last year after Vormawor alleged that he was offered $1 million to silence him and other leaders of the movement.
Counsel for the defendant, Justice Srem Sai, had told the court that they had finished typing out Barker-Vormawor’s defence to the GH¢10 million defamation suit and were ready to print and file, but for some unknown reason, the typed work vanished from his computer.
He, however, assured the court that he would be filing the defence to the suit as well as a counter claim by close of yesterday.
Dr. Srem Sai also informed the court that he had filed a stay proceedings pending the determination of appeal against the court’s December 14, 2023 decision to decline an application which sought to have the case dismissed.
Meanwhile, Justice Rev. Fr. Owusu Agyeman, the presiding judge, has indicated that he would not be ruling on an application for judge in default filed by counsel for Mr. Kan-Dapaah.
He said there was no need to grant the application for judgment in default since same would most likely be set aside in two weeks.
The judge said he would certainly grant an application to set aside the default judgment, adding that that it would therefore, be a waste of his time to grant the application for a default judgment.
Justice Rev. Fr. Agyeman, therefore, gave Barker-Vormawor one week within which to file his defence to the defamation suit against him.
The case was adjourned to January 23, 2024, for continuation.
Barker-Vormawwor had alleged that the National Security Minister and other government officials met him in 2021 even before their first protest and offered him money to supposedly silence him.
He alleged among others that he and other leaders of the group were also offered appointment on committees as well as appointment to other government positions in order for them to end the activism.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah denied the allegations and instructed his lawyers to file a defamation suit against Vormawor, seeking damages of GH¢10 million and other reliefs.
Suit
The controversial activist made the bribery claims after he and some individuals were released by the police after they were arrested on September 22, 2023, for staging a demonstration in Accra in spite of a motion to restrict them being filed before a court.
“They went as far as offering us US$1 million, they offered us a Committee Appointment, set up a committee and appoint us to government positions in order to stop this activism. This was made directly to me and other leaders of Fix the Country Movement… This conversation we had with the Minister of National Security, the Minister of Finance and a Brigadier General at a safe home,” Barker-Vormawor alleged.
The Ministry of National Security denied the allegation, and Barker-Vormawor had pledged to make the recording public, but that has not been done.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah, in a suit filed before an Accra High Court, is asking it to declare among others, that the statement is defamatory of him.
He is also asking for the “recovery of the sum of Ten Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢10,000,000) as General Damages including Aggravated and/or Exemplary Damages for Defamation for the words uttered by Defendant.”
The suit is again asking for an apology and retraction of the defamatory words complained of, a perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from repeating similar or other defamatory words against Barker-Vormawor as well as cost.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak