Private investigator sues NDC secretary, 3 others

A security expert and a private investigator, Kwame Dankwa has sued the branch secretary of the Full Gospel Church branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Shai Osudoku Constituency, Owula Mangortey, and three others for defamation.

According to a suit filed before an Accra High Court, the defendants since October, caused to be published as well as published misleading and defamatory articles about him which suggests that he had usurped the powers of some army generals and is constantly harassing and intimidating them as well as the rank and file of the Military Police.

The defendants according to the suit without any evidence also alleged that the plaintiff is overseeing the training of vigilantes at the Asutuary National Security Training Camp in the Greater Accra Region.

Attached to the suit are Giraffe Publication, publishers of the Daily Post Newspaper, the editor of the paper, Michael Dokosi as well as Ghananews Online.

In his statement of case, the plaintiff avers that Owula Mangortey caused the paper to publish that he has a permanent office and presence at the offices of the Provost Marshall and the Commanding Officer of the Military Police.

The suit further avers that the plaintiff is “operating the barracks and supervising troop peacekeeping rotations and control of vigilantes training at the Asutuare National Security Training Camp.”

The publication according to the plaintiff also alleges he was responsible for the arrest, interrogation and detention of several officers and men of the forces.

“The first defendant (Owula Mangortey) published that from 8th June, 2019, five batches of 200 vigilantes were trained by soldiers of Ghana Armed Forces and then goes on to link the plaintiff with the alleged training of the vigilantes and claims plaintiff has operational and tactical contacts of the Asutuare Camp, which is an installation of the Ghana Armed Forces,” the suit avers.

Again, the defendants alleged that the plaintiff’s personal Toyota vehicle belongs to either the Ghana Armed Forces or the National Security Council Secretariat.

Mr. Dankwa avers that vigilantism is a criminal enterprise and by the defendant’s publication, it is understood to mean that he is involved in training people for criminal activities.

He avers that the publications were meant to “defame him, subject him to public hatred, ridicule, odium and to expose his life as well as the life of his mother and fiancé to danger by giving to the whole world his phone number, car number, his mother’s name and his hometown while alleging that he trains vigilantes and intimidates and arrest soldiers.”

He is seeking general damages of a million Ghana Cedis against the defendants, an order directed at them to retract the publication and render an apology for it as well as cost including lawyer’s fees.