Ghanaian MP, Afenyo Markin Sues Prominent Online Media - Modernghana.com, Editor, Alhassan Bawah, Others Over Publications

The Member of Parliament for Efutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has sued online media portal ModernGhana.com and 4 other persons over what he says are defamatory publications about him.

The 4 others jointly sued are operators of ModernGhana, Jogobu Limited, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Jogobu Limited, Bright Owusu Adamson.

An editor with ModernGhana, Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, and a lecturer with the University of Education, Winneba, Alhassan Salifu Bawah have also been sued.

Afenyo-Markin claims in his suit that one of the defendants Alhassan Salifu Bawah used very unprintable words which smeared his reputation and lowered his standing in the estimation of right thinking members of the society.

In his statement of claim, Afenyo Markin said the defendant ensured an online publication that among other things declared him as not trustworthy, and funded people to employ violence in destabilizing the University of Education, Winneba.

He claimed that the publication portrayed him as a “shameless, hopeless Member of Parliament and lawyer who does not adhere to the ethics of the profession and is quick to sell out his clients for maggots and that he squandered funds belonging to Ghana Water Company Limited and has since doctored accounts to conceal his theft.”

The numerous articles, according to Afenyo Markin were all published on ModernGhana.com with the University lecturer as the author.

All the claims according to Afenyo Marking are calculated to injure his profession as a lawyer and cause embarrassment to him as a Member of Parliament for the Effutu constituency since they are without truth.

The legislator is asking the Court to order the five defendants to render an unqualified apology to him and refrain from ever publishing any such stories about him.

He is also asking the Court to award him general damages to the tune of GH¢1,000,000 against all the defendants.

On June 27 2019, the Editor of ModernGhana Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and his reporter Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum were arrested and detained by the National Operatives over an alleged cybercrime.

The Editor Ajaror after their detention at the National Security said their arrest has nothing to do with cybercrime.

He indicated that their arrest was in connection to an opinion piece authored by one Constance Kwabeng against the National Security Minister Albert Kan Dapaah which was sent into the ediror's email.

The second aspect, according to him was the articles authored by the University of Education Winneba lecturer Alhassan Salifu Bawah against Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

The Editor Ajarfor claimed he was tortured by the National Security operative to confess how he got those articles and whether he has any close alignment with the two authors of the articles against the National Security Minister and the MP Afenyo Markin.

He added that at no point was he questioned on cybercrime during his detention at the National Security.

But the National Security denied all the allegations and further dragged the Editor, his reporter and one other journalistic with an Accra based local radio station Peace fm to court over cybercrime but dropped the case claiming there is a new development which the police are investigating.

The case is still pending investigation for the past two months and over.

---ModernGhana with additional files from citinewsroom