[ 2016-10-26 ]

Kwesi Nyantakyi’s defamation suit against Songo
Sports presenter Patrick Osei- Agyemang and his
media outfit Multimedia Group Limited will appear
before an Accra Fast Track court on Monday over a
gargantuan $2m defamation lawsuit brought by Ghana
FA president and FIFA Council member Kwesi
Nyantakyi.

Agyemang, popularly called Countryman Songo, and
his media company have been hauled before the law
courts as hearing on the long-standing case starts
on Monday.

Nyantakyi is cutting short a football-related trip
abroad to give evidence on Monday in the case that
will see over 100 tape recordings tendered in
evidence to back his claim of libel.

The GFA boss is suing the Countryman Songo and his
media company for $2m in the defamation and libel
lawsuit after ‘years of consistent lies and
calculated negative campaigns’, Nyantakyi will
tell on the court.

This comes just three months after three
journalists were jailed in Ghana for threatening
some judges in the country on their radio station
Montie FM.

The presenter and Multimedia Group Limited, the
holding company of Asempa FM, have filed their
witness statements, paving the way the case to be
heard. The case also connects with another
presenter Kofi ‘Abatay’ Asare Brako who has
left the radio station.

Countryman Songo and the media company are
required by the court to appear on Monday after
Nyantakyi produced over 100 recordings of
‘scandalous lies calculated to defame him and
the football federation’.

The recording dates back from 2012 until 2014 when
Abatay was a presenter at Asempa FM before
switching to Atinka FM. As such the two presenters
are being held to account over their claims on
Asempa FM against Nyantakyi.

The radio station and its parent company have also
been accused of giving an unfettered platform to
damage the reputation of Nyantakyi – as some
its other Twi language stations toe a similar
line.

The lawsuit claims false reports about Nyantakyi
were “broadcasted by Asempa FM throughout the
world” via the internet and has severely damaged
his reputation and good name.

Led by one of Ghana’s best legal brains Teddy
Sory, lawyers for Nyantakyi are seeking punitive
damages for libelous statements calculated at
damaging his reputation in the eyes of the
public.

Ghana’s leading football official says Asempa FM
and its reporters damaged his reputation and he is
seeking Eight Million GhC8m ($2m) in the suit.

The lawsuit comes three months after the country
was rocked by the jailing of three journalists but
the legal experts say the action of Nyantakyi is
‘long overdue’ because of the consistency and
ferociousness of attacks on his personality.

Two years ago Ghana FA announced a public boycott
of Asempa FM for the ‘consistent lies calculated
to demonize the federation in the eyes of
Ghanaians with false and one-sided reports’.

Delegations from Multimedia were sent to the
federation to beg the leaders to renounce the
boycott but reversing of the decision only
escalated attacks on the GFA and Nyantakyi.

The lawsuit, filled at the Fast Track court in
Accra, said the reports on Nyantakyi by the radio
station were “false and malicious” and he is
armed with evidence which have been marked as
slanderous.

Nyantakyi said their claims have caused him
“humiliation” and “distress” and that he
“has been subjected to unfathomable amounts of
ridicule and public scorn”.

The legal challenge has got wide implications for
Asempa FM as Nyantakyi holds international
positions on Swiss-based organisation FIFA, CAF
and he is also the leader of the West Africa
Football Union (WAFU).

Despite complaints to the owners and manager of
the radio the attacks went on unabated as it
reached its apex on 11th November 2014 when Kofi
Asare Brako called Nyantakyi ‘a thief’ and
‘has defrauded Ghanaians for far loo long’.

Multimedia, a company claiming to be based on
Christian ethos, has encouraged its presenters to
libel Nyantakyi and several officials of the GFA
have been defamed with lies to the chase of radio
rating and profits through adverts.

Under Ghanaian law, damaging someone’s
reputation with false information is a crime that
can carry a huge fine which was recently witnessed
between a newspaper and a high-ranking official of
the ruling government.

Songo’s Fire for Fire programme has mainly been
modelled on Nyantakyi who has been the subject of
discussion on his sports show for the past five
years.

The CAF Executive Committee member wants an end to
the bad-mouthing and unprofessional conduct of the
above-mentioned journalists to end.

Songo was arrested by police in Ghana some months
ago for the possession of narcotic drugs before
his show.

This lends to the widespread suspicion that his
foul-mouthed presentation on the radio show is
drug-fueled.

This is the first of three targeted lawsuits by
the GFA president against some media outfits and
some radio presenters who have made their careers
out of making outrageous false claims against
him.

Atinka FM and three of their presenters Kofi Asare
Brako, Saddick Obama and Abraham Boakye will be
the next as tapes of their claims have been
secured for the case to be actioned in court.
Another Multimedia station Nhyira FM – based in
Kumasi and two of their presenters have been lined
up.

There is strong suspicion that some sports
presenters and their analysts have been bribed by
some people seeking to take over the GFA to bad
mouth Nyantakyi and the federation to pave the way
for them to takeover.

Source - Kasapafm

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