Extortionist allegations: Afenyo-Markin’s defamation suit was to save face – NDC communicator

A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Raymond Tamakloe, has defended Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi over his description of Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin as an “extortionist”.

He argued that Sammy Gyamfi would not have made such an emphatic statement without evidence to support his claim.

Mr Tamakloe made the remarks on the GTV Breakfast Show on Thursday, October 15, a day after an Accra High Court dismissed a GH¢15 million defamation suit filed by Mr Afenyo-Markin against Sammy Gyamfi and the Multimedia Group Limited.

“Sammy Gyamfi made a very emphatic statement, which I believe, if he did not have any evidence, he would not be reckless,” he said.

The suit followed comments the GoldBod CEO made during the August 22 edition of JoyNews’ Newsfile programme amid a public disagreement over the operations of GoldBod and reported losses associated with the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

Afenyo-Markin, who considered the description false and damaging to his reputation, sought GH¢15 million in damages, a retraction and an apology, as well as an injunction against further publication of the alleged defamatory remarks.

However, the High Court’s General Jurisdiction 1 Division, in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, October 14, held that the writ of summons did not contain sufficient particulars identifying the allegedly defamatory publication, as required under Order 57 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C.I. 47).

The court consequently set aside the writ and statement of claim and made no order as to costs.

Reacting to this on GTV's Breakfast Show on Thursday, October 15, Tamakloe asserted that Mr Afenyo-Markin, a lawyer, knew that the truth could provide a defence against a defamation claim.

“He himself, who is a lawyer, knows that fact. That is why [Sammy Gyamfi] was very emphatic. He was very bold in calling the Minority Leader what he described him as, and challenged him to go to court,” he added.

The court’s decision, however, was based on a procedural defect in the writ and did not determine whether Mr Gyamfi’s description of Mr Afenyo-Markin was true or defamatory.

The ruling therefore does not establish that Sammy Gyamfi had evidence to support the allegation, as Mr Tamakloe has argued.