Kennedy Agyapong, a member of parliament for Assin Central, expressed satisfaction with his victory over investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and dedicated it to Kwasi Nyantakyi, a former president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
This comes after the Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15, dismissed the $25,000,000 defamation lawsuit Anas Aremeyaw Anas brought against the lawmaker/businessman in 2018.
In his lawsuit, he alleged Mr. Agyapong defamed him in the documentary “Who watches the watchman” that he broadcast on various platforms. Agyapong was ordered to clear his name after Anas asked the court to punish him with damages.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to demonstrate that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary, according to the High Court, presided over by Justice Eric Baah. The documentary in question, in the opinion of the court, primarily revealed dubious transactions that Anas and his associates were engaged in.
In a lengthy decision, the court found that Agyapong’s evidence was sufficient to establish that Anas had solicited funds from people connected to the evidence he had gathered during his investigations using the findings of his work. Evidence, it continued, also demonstrated that those who could afford the payments demanded by Anas and his associates were exempted from appearing in videos played for the general public.
The judge continued to reprimand Anas, declaring that what he and his associates had done was not investigative journalism but rather investigative terrorism, and that Agyapong had every right to refer to Anas as such “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
“I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,” Justice Baah is quoted to have ruled.
It may be recalled that an investigation dubbed “Number 12” exposed corruption in Ghanaian soccer and photographed Nyantakyi, the GFA’s former president, accepting bribes from undercover reporters.
Kennedy Agyapong reacted to the High Court decision by saying Nayantakyi won because of his legal victory over Anas.
“We have to be bold to speak the truth, Anas goes ahead to [allegedly] defame people and gets away. It is only in this country that a journalist covers his face to go and give witness when a while Supreme Court judges are sitting there.
“All I am saying is the victory is for Kwasi Nyatkayi,” he is quoted to have said.
Aremeyaw Anas is yet to respond to the court’s decision.
