The High Court in Accra has dismissed an application made by Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a member of the #FixtheCountry Movement, seeking to have the GH¢10 million defamation suit brought against him by the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, thrown out.
As per GHOne TV reports, the court, aside from rejecting the application, has imposed a fine of GHC 3,000 on Barker-Vormawor.
In an affidavit supporting the motion on notice for an order to dismiss the suit, dated November 29, 2023, Barker-Vormawor, a private legal practitioner, contended that the minister is not entitled to initiate or oversee civil matters pertaining to the functions he carries out on behalf of the state.
He said that the alleged defamatory words were directed at the state or its functionaries and not personally at the minister.
He contended that the matters forming the basis of the defamation claims are exclusively linked to the minister’s performance of state functions.
Kan-Dapaah filed a defamation suit against Barker-Vormawor after the latter claimed that National Security officials, including government representatives, met him in 2021 and offered him money to silence his activism.
He asserted that he was offered $1 million and lucrative government positions to cease his activities critical of the government.