Ibrahim Dey
An Accra High Court has awarded a whopping GH¢1.5 million as damages against former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Salaga South, Ibrahim Dey Abubakari, for making defamatory statement about former National Security Advisor, Alhaji Baba Kamara.
On March, 20, 2017, Alhaji Baba Kamara initiated a court action against the former MP.
He sought damages to the tune of GH¢20,000.000 and perpetual injunction to restrain Ibrahim Dey from making further defamatory statements about him.
Ibrahim Dey Abubakari is said to have accused Alhaji Baba Kamara of inflating contract costs in the renovation of the Vice Presidential mansion and pocketed monies meant for Salaga water project in three voice recordings.
He also accused the former National Security Advisor of diverting official vehicles for his personal use.
However, the defendant Ibrahim Dey denied the claims when he was served the writ of summons.
The former MP stated he had not authorized anybody to record or publish any defamatory statements about Alhaji Kamara.
The court, after the trial on April, 5, 2019, found Ibrahim Dey liable, stating that the former MP had the intention of damaging the reputation of the former National Security Advisor, Senior Presidential Advisor, former High Commissioner and businessman.
The court subsequently ordered him to pay a compensation of GH¢1,500.000 to Alhaji Baba Kamara, as well as cost of GH¢5,000.
The judge, Justice Patience Mills-Tetteh, in her ruling, said “incivility is gradually creeping into our society, people give bad reports about other people on our airwaves without checking the authenticity of the facts and this must be controlled; public servants of this country must be lifted up and be respected after services to this nation. It’s not right to accuse people of wrongdoing when it has not been established by any means that they have committed those offences.
“This nation must not encourage dissemination of false news, and provocative vocabulary on our airwaves because it can cause irreparable damage on the image of the person who are the subject of discussions. It does not pay to use words to tear up people in authority,” she added.
By Gibril Abdul Razak