Chief of Staff Political Affairs Director Drags Multimedia Group to Court over Defamation
It has been mentione that the standard of journalistic practice, Mr. Nettey and the Multimedia Group ought to have also cross-checked with relevant facts with him before putting the documentary but woefully failed to do so.
Jonas Danquah 
The Political Director at the Office of the Chief of Staff, Mr. Frank Asiedu Bekoe, has sued a broadcast journalist working with Joy TV and the Multimedia Group for publishing a documentary considered defamatory against him.
The defendants, Mr. Kwettey Nettey and the Multimedia Group are purported to have run a documentary on 15th January, 2020 alleging that Mr. Bekoe allocated and auctioned seized vehicles to politically connected cronies of the government without the beneficiaries paying the required assessed duties.
According to Mr. Bekoe, the documentary was defamatory and is therefore claiming compensatory damages in the sum of Ten Million Ghana Cedis (GHC10,000,000.00) from Mr. Nettey and the Multimedia Group.
Apart from that, Mr. Bekoe wants a declaration from the court that, the publication by the defendants on Joy TV, linking him to the alleged fraudulent allocation and auctioning of seized vehicles was defamatory and was made without any basis.
The Plaintiff wants an order of injunction directed at the Defendants, agents, assigns, privies from continuing to air the said defamatory documentary.
Again, Mr. Bekoe wants an order of the court directed at Mr. Nettey and the Multimedia Group to retract and render unqualified apology in the same prominence on Joy TV and four publications in the Daily Graphic.
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A statement of claim in a suit filed by Mr. Gary Nimako of Safo & Marfo @ Law on March 4, 2020, said that the publication by the Defendants which was widely circulated has damaged the Plaintiff’s (Mr. Bekoe) image as a public officer.
Mr. Bekoe mentioned that by standard of journalistic practice, Mr. Nettey and the Multimedia Group ought to have also cross-checked with relevant facts with him before putting the documentary but woefully failed to do so.
He added that, the documentary piece was a calculated attempt to malign his reputation.
‘’It is clear that the Defendants sought to embark on a one-sided piece of work that was carefully calculated, designed, crafted to malign and destroy the reputation of the Plaintiff in the eyes of right thinking members of society,’’ the statement said.
