Sammy Gyamfi Has Been Exposed!

I’VE WAITED with bated breath for the judgment of the court on the matter. But the result is definitely worth the wait. I was in the staff common room of my school when news of the judgment first reached me. I attracted all eyes as I literally leapt for joy upon hearing that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Energy and MP for Manhyia South Constituency, had won the defamation suit against Sammy Gyamfi, Zu-za’s National Communications Officer. I leapt for joy because justice had finally been served.

Yes, you heard, right! The High Court, General Jurisdiction 12 in Accra, presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Danquah, in a judgment delivered on October 13, 2022, found Sammy guilty of defamation against the minister, popularly referred to as Napo. The court awarded damages of GH¢500,000 and ordered him to publish a retraction and an apology.

The whole palaver started when Sammy, at a press conference in June 2019, stated that Seidu Yakubu Mba, a suspect in the kidnapping of the two Canadian girls in 2019, was Napo’s errand boy. In effect, he was linking Napo to the said kidnapping saga.

Information reaching my ‘konkonsaic’ ears indicate that Sammy Gyamfi did plead for an out of court settlement, which Napo obliged with only two conditions: That Sammy makes a paltry GH¢40,000 donation to the Osu Children's Home in the name of Napo; and render an unqualified apology to him through a press conference and the same media outlets he used in defaming him (Napo).

Sammy Gyamfi felt it would be too humiliating to be followed by media personnel to the Osu Children's Home to make the donation, which would in effect be exposing him as a great liar. Also, organising a press conference and granting interviews on Ekosiisen, Okay FM, Neat FM and all the pro Zu-za radio stations to retract and apologise felt herculean to him.

Well, it is now obvious to all and sundry that Sammy had chosen the wrong option. Being found guilty of defamation by a competent court of jurisdiction and fined half a million Ghana Cedis is more humiliating than the option Napo offered him. Not forgetting the order from the court for him to retract and apologise.

Although Sammy is trying to convince the world that he has not been affected by the judgment, he has so far not been successful at it. I’ve seen videos of him after the judgment and the visibly shaken Sammy is a pale shadow of himself. His trembling voice shows that even he himself is not convinced he will get a different outcome in his appeal.

Though I do not like his politics, my human side makes me sympathise with him. We are all human and are bound to make mistakes. But the wisest thing to do when we offend others is to show remorse and apologise.

Sammy should therefore swallow his pride and apologise to Napo for dragging his name into the mud. The Napo we all know is not vindictive. He will not hesitate to forgive Sammy if he, Sammy, shows the slightest of remorse. But he should expect a showdown from Napo if he persists on the intransigence path.

What has befallen Sammy should be a reminder to all politicians, young and old, that their opponents are not their enemies. Politicians from both sides of the political divide must be circumspect in their utterances. The insults, name-calling and character assassinations have dominated the airwaves, making me wanting to throw up sometimes. Haaba!

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!