Akuapem North PM sues head of Akropong Oyoko family, wants GH¢500,000 in damages

The presiding member of the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly, Nana Asiedu Ofei has filed a defamation suit against the head of Akwapim Oyoko family, Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah for allegedly publishing defamatory statements which he says portray him as a criminal.

According to Nana Asiedu Ofei, the said publication exposed him to "public ridicule, hatred and contempt in the eyes of the right-thinking citizens of Ghana and numerous expatriates and diplomats in Ghana.”

Nana Asiedu Ofei is seeking damages of GH¢500,000 and an order from the courts directed at the defendants to declare that the statement made by him in his press conference, media interviews and publications on various portals are defamatory.

Nana Asiedu Ofei also wants an order of the court directed at the defendant to publish on three consecutive occasions, on the same platforms, press conference, interviews and publications where he published the defamatory words, an unqualified retraction and an apology, with the same prominence as given to the issuance of the defamatory words against the plaintiff.

He also wants an order of the court for perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, assigns and servants from further publishing any defamatory words against him.

Per the plaintiff's statement of claim, defendant (Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah) falsely accused him of conspiring with Madam Gladys Kwakoa Sampah, a family member for selling Akwapim Oyoko family lands without the consent of the family head.

The statement of claim also avers that the defendant published falsely and maliciously that “a family member in the person of madam Gladys Kwakoa Sampah is in bed with Nana Asiedu Ofei in selling the family land without the consent of the head of the family” without any recourse to the plaintiff when nothing of that has happened.

The plaintiff insists that the information in the said publication by the defendant is both false and malicious and are duly known to the defendant.

Full background of the Publication

The Kingmakers of Akwapim Akropong Oyoko Division in the Akwapim North municipality have accused former Presiding Member, Nana Aseidu Ofei, of selling their family land.

According to an indenture on the said land intercepted by Bryt FM, Nana Aseidu Ofei who isn’t a family member is seen as a principal member with his signature on it allegedly signing to represent the Akropong Oyoko family without the knowledge of the family head and other family members.

It is also believed that a family member in the person of Madam Gladys Kwakoa Sampah is in bed with Nana Asiedu Ofei in selling the family land without the consent of the head of the family, Abusuapan Adu Debrah.

Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah at a press conference in Akropong over the weekend expressed his displeasure about one Madam Gladys Kwakoa Sampah and Nana Asiedu Ofei for going behind him as well as other members of family to be selling the said family lands to the people occupying the following places: the Akwapim North Municipal Chief Executive’s residence, Police residence, former Customs Director’s Residence, Akwapim North Municipal P.M.B, Akwapim Presbytery Chairman’s Residence, Parks and Gardens and a host of others.

“The Akwapim Oyoko Family land is at Nkwantang, Akropong Akwapim,” Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah averred.

Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah averred that the land, a portion of which is intended to be hereby granted and conveyed to Mrs. Tina Ohenewa Dewar is the ancestral land of Oyoko clan of Akropong-Akwapim and the head of the family is the principal owner of the said land and has the mandate to sell the said the land.

Abusuapanyin Adu Debrah in an interview after the press conference called on all illegal occupants on the above-mentioned lands to contact him before the family advises themselves.