Sammy Gyamfi Refuses To Retract And Apologise To NAPO As Ordered By Court In Defamation Ruling; Moves To Appeal

The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has taken to his Facebook wall to react to the ruling of Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah over a defamation suit filed against him by the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh in 2019.

Instead of apologising and retracting as ordered by the court, Sammy Gyamfi rather objected to the ruling of the Accra High Court stating that the judge “erred”.

In June 2019, two Canadians working as volunteers for Youth Challenge International, a charity organisation, were kidnapped in Kumasi, Ghana.

Following this, the National Chairman of the NDC, Ofosu Ampofo was arrested for his alleged connection to the crime but was later released.

Reacting to this at a press conference, Sammy Gyamfi said that an alleged leader of the kidnappers identified as Seidu Mba was is the errand boy of Matthew Opoku-Prempeh”.

Opoku Prempeh who was then the Minister for Education on that note sued the National communicator of the NDC for defamation.

In a ruling today, the court presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah reportedly said Sammy Gyamfi indeed defamed Matthew Opoku Prempeh.

The Court, therefore, ordered Sammy to pay GHc500,000 as damages and also publish a retraction and an apology.

But Sammy Gyamfi avers that the judge “erred” in his decision.

“It is my considered view that the honorable court erred as its decision is contrary to the evidence that was put before the court. More importantly, I hold the view that the court’s decision to totally disregard the testimony of my witness, DW1, Mafus Jibril who testified that the said Seidu Mba was in fact the errand boy of Plaintiff and was in his company when he (DW1) was attacked in Manhyia sometime in 2012, constitutes a grave miscarriage of justice”, he said in a statement.

He disclosed he will file an application for a stay of execution and then appeal the decision of the court.

“Consequently, my lawyers will be filing a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution to challenge the decision of the High Court forthwith. It’s my hope that justice will be served.”

Below Is Sammy Gyamfi’s Full Statement:

Sometime in 2019, a defamation suit was filed against me by Manhyia South MP and now Minister for Energy, Hon. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, in relation to a comment made at a press conference I addressed on the three kidnapped Canadian girls in Kumasi.
The said press conference was to debunk allegations by some elements in the New Patriotic Party that the said kidnapping incident was masterminded by the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.
The specific comment that constituted the basis for the suit was my assertion that contrary to the above allegation, the ring leader of the kidnappers, one Seidu Mba was “alleged to be the errand boy of Matthew Opoku-Prempeh”.
After three years of litigation, the court today held that the said comment was defamatory and consequently awarded damages of GH500,000.00 and cost of GH50,000.00 against me.
It is my considered view that the honorable court erred as its decision is contrary to the evidence that was put before the court. More importantly, I hold the view that the court’s decision to totally disregard the testimony of my witness, DW1, Mafus Jibril who testified that the said Seidu Mba was in fact the errand boy of Plaintiff and was in his company when he (DW1) was attacked in Manhyia sometime in 2012, constitutes a grave miscarriage of justice.
Consequently, my lawyers will be filing a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution to challenge the decision of the High Court forthwith. It’s my hope that justice will be served.
I am most grateful to my brother and lawyer Edudzi Kudzo Tameklo, and my learned colleagues, Beatrice Annan Esq., Seth Nyaaba Esq. and Gideon Abotsi Esq. who have been representing me in court on this matter.
It is worthy of note, that this is only the decision of the court of first instance and not final. I am determined to pursue this matter to its logical conclusion.
The struggle continues.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini