Bright Otchere Adjekum, counsel for Kan Dapaah, attempted to seek costs against the defendant on Monday, January 27, 2025, after being shown a letter from Dr. Justice Srem Sai, counsel for Oliver Barker-Vormawor, requesting an adjournment due to his unavailability.
Otchere Adjekum admitted that he had been informed of the letter but had yet to see it. After being shown a copy by the court, he described the letter as a “lame excuse.”
He argued that the grounds for adjournment were not valid, citing ill health or appearing before the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court as proper grounds. He prayed the court to discharge his client, who was scheduled to face further cross-examination from the defense, and award costs against the defendant.
However, the court, presided over by Justice Rev. Fr. Joseph Adu-Owusu Agyeman, did not entertain the request and instead adjourned the case.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor, who was initially absent when the case was called, arrived later. The court urged him to ensure his lawyer was present at the next hearing.
The case centers on a defamation suit filed by Kan Dapaah against Barker-Vormawor, seeking damages of GH₵10 million.
NSC Briefs
On November 20 last year, Albert Kan Dapaah opened his case. Moments after his lawyers, led by Otchere Adjekum, led him to give his testimony, his cross-examination started.
Under cross-examination from Dr. Justice Srem Sai, the National Security Minister told the High Court in Accra that activities of the #FixTheCountry Movement and Oliver Barker-Vormawor featured in “a few of his briefs” at the National Security Council meetings.
According to him, though “my briefs are given orally, there have been a few occasions where it has featured in my (written) briefs.”
Albert Kan Dapaah made this known while facing cross-examination from lawyers of Oliver Barker-Vormawor, led by Dr. Justice Srem Sai, in a case where the minister is demanding a GH₵10 million defamation sum.
The National Security Minister is seeking GH₵10 million from Barker-Vormawor for an alleged bribery allegation made against him.
Background
The National Security Minister has accused the former FixTheCountry Movement convener of defamation and has initiated legal action against him.
Albert Kan Dapaah’s defamation suit was initiated over comments said to have been made by Barker-Vormawor, which the minister alleged defamed him.
The action by Kan Dapaah comes on the back of allegations made by the Fix-The-Country convener that the National Security and some government officials had met him and offered him money to stop his activism against the government.
The allegation was refuted by the National Security Minister, who subsequently filed a defamation suit in court against Barker-Vormawor.
The minister is seeking “recovery of the sum of GH₵10 million as General Damages, including Aggravated and/or Exemplary Damages for Defamation for the words uttered by the Defendant.” He is also seeking “an apology for and retraction of the words complained of” and “a perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from repeating similar or other defamatory words against the Plaintiff.”
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