Enquirer sued for defamation

An action has commenced against the Enquirer newspaper at the High Court in Accra following a suit filed by Caleb Kwabla Atta, an aspiring Assembly Member in Tema, who is praying the court to restrain the publisher of the newspaper from further publishing defamatory things about him.

Additionally, the plaintiff is demanding two hundred thousand cedis in damages for libel from the publisher and one Stanley Assor, an employee (journalist) of the paper.

The plaintiff is further praying the court to place an interlocutory injunction and compel the defendant to retract and apologise for the said publication.

In his statement of claim, Mr Atta stated that on January 29, 2015 the newspaper published falsehood about him in a story headlined, “Ex-Convict No.3 For Assembly Election”, alleging that the assembly member aspirant for the Valco Electoral Area in Tema was an ex-convict.

Mr Atta said the newspaper further accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of allowing criminals and ex-convicts to contest the impending district assembly elections.

Per the publication, the plaintiff argued, the publisher suggested that he committed a criminal offence, was charged, prosecuted and convicted for the said criminal offence.

According to him, the publication sought to suggest that he was therefore ineligible to stand for the impending assembly elections.

He contended that due to the publication, not only had his reputation been seriously damaged, he had also suffered considerable anguish and injury to his person which had been brought into public scandal and contempt.

According to the plaintiff, by reason of the publication, he received calls from the length and breadth of the country, adding that some of his friends who were assisting him in his campaign decided to stop.

The aspiring assembly member stated that to counteract the adverse effects of the publication and to refute its allegations, GHc200,000 would be required for the legal and related costs he would incur.

Meanwhile, a criminal check document from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in possession of DAILY GUIDE shows that the plaintiff, Caleb Atta, has no criminal record(s).