A member of the Movement for Change is facing legal action for defamation due to his circulation and public amplification of the contentious “Agyapa” paper.
The Akyem Abuakwa State Secretary, Mr. Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta, has brought Mr. Hopeson Adoye before the courts for claiming that he is the technical director and author of the “AGYAPADIE” paper.
The book, which offers a comprehensive plan for elevating and preserving Akyem people’s position of dominance in every aspect of Ghana’s economy, has reappeared and gained popularity on social media as well as traditional media.
The management of Media General, which runs a number of media outlets including Onua TV and Onua FM, is also named as a second defendant in the lawsuit because it is their responsibility to make sure that the resources and platform that they give to their panellists and employees aren’t used to violate the rights and liberties of others or to defame them.
In addition to requesting an apology, the defamation complaint seeks ten million Ghanaian cedis in general damages, including exemplary and/or aggravating damages for defamation committed by Hopeson Adoye, the first defendant.
Additionally, the plaintiff is requesting a declaration of a perpetual injunction to prevent the defendants, their employees, representatives, or assigns from speaking negatively about the plaintiff in the future.
The writ of summons states that on or around July 26, 2024, the First Defendant participated as a panelist on the Second Defendant’s “Onua Maakye” program, which was broadcast on Onua TV in addition to other platforms.
It claimed that the first defendant, the whole membership of Ofori Panin Fie and Okyeman, among others, was given the unrestricted opportunity and was even encouraged to run an unwarranted commentary on and/or amplification of a document titled “Agyapadee” in relation to the Plaintiff;
The claim statement replicated the commentary provided by Mr. Hopeson Adoye in the following manner:
‘Look, have you seen this document? It is called Agyapadie. Do you see it?
Please capture it well so that everyone can have a look at it. I am not saying anything just from my head. It is alleged that a particular family wrote this Document (Agyapadie). How they can amass the wealth and property of Ghana for themselves, their sons and generations to come. So, whoever wrote the forward or signed the forward has signed Ofori Atta here. Now with the forward, take a look at the first paragraph. It says, ‘ ‘to our future, made up of the present, and the unborn, generations are those whom we are creating this nation’s wealth for. Do you hear that? You have given power to someone to serve you, however, someone has decided to use that power to accumulate the entire wealth of Ghana for his future generations and we are quiet’.
It continued that: ‘We have abandoned it; we have abandoned it. Look, if you go to the banking sector, how Data bank is being utilized to do everything, including all the loans we are taking, is all about one family. For us we are galaway” people. When you speak about it, someone within the NPP will stand up against you to defend this rot. Meanwhile, you will be suffering out there. They say, ‘ ‘to our future, present and unborn’.
According to media reports, Mr. Hopeson Adoye stated that the Akyems will be the influential people in Ghana. This implies that everyone must do what they say in the event of an emergency.
The letter went on to explain how the Akyem people can register and own around 332 mining businesses located all over Ghana.
The plaintiff claims that the document is purposefully replete with pictures of Dr. J. B. Danquah, the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, and the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as well as the Okyeman insignia and scurrilous references to the plaintiff, Ken Ofori – Attah, Nana Asante Bediatuo, and other subjects of Ofori Panin Fie, all of whom are clearly intended to misrepresent the document as coming from Ofori Panin Fie.
According to this, the document and its commentary and/or amplifications, in their natural and ordinary meaning, mean and are understood to mean that the Plaintiff wrote the document as part of a plot to collude with others in order to steal, embezzle, and covet national assets for their own use and to corrupt state institutions, including the judiciary, in order to amass wealth.
Plaintiff adds that the document and its commentary and/or amplifications “naturally and ordinarily” mean and are understood to mean, among other things, that the Plaintiff, Ofori Panin Fie, and Okyeman are deceitful, anti-nationalists, saboteurs, corrupt, and abusers of public office.
The plaintiff asserts unequivocally that he has never written, co-written, published, contributed a foreword, or in any other way helped with the publication of the document or any other document with material that is similar.
It claims that the paper, a discredited propagandist work that had been lying around and mostly disregarded for some time, was only revived by the first defendant on the platform of the second defendant and then repeated by the first defendant and others on other platforms.
The plaintiff claims that although the allegations made in the document and by the first defendant on the platform of the second defendant are serious, they are the total fabrication of cunning minds and have seriously harmed the reputation of the plaintiff, the members of the Ofori Pan-in Fie, and in fact all Okyeman subjects.