Two Journalists and their media organizations sue for defamation

Alhaji Abdul-Rahama Madaha has filed a GH¢ 5 million defamation suit at the Tamale High Court of Justice against TV3, 3news.com, Media General Ghana, its regional correspondent Christopher Amoako, Zaa multimedia, and its on-air presenter Saani Mohammed Lukman, Guest of the show Mr Baba, and Wulana of Kakpayili, respectively.

In a statement of claim filed by Mr. Sylvester Isang (ESQ), counsel for Alhaji Abdul-Rahama Madaha, the plaintiff said the defendants, in their comments, publication online, artworks, social media live discussions, and publication on Facebook, have suggested that the plaintiff has kidnapped children and used them for ritual purposes.

According to the plaintiff, the first defendant (Baba), an actor, published and commented on his Facebook page that he had kidnapped seven children and sliced them into pieces in Kakpayili. The plaintiff in the writ said the comment was defamatory, and it had tarnished his image and reputation. The second defendant, Wulana Lindquist of Kakpayili Palace, said in an interview with the media in the aftermath of the allegations levelled against the plaintiff and the burning of the plaintiff’s house that “Madaha is a family man. Why did he use his children for the ritual but rather others’ children?” According to the plaintiff, the statement is defamatory of the plaintiff and brings his image and reputation into disrepute.

In the statements by the 3rd and 4th defendants during a live TV show, Saani Mohammed Lukman, staff of Zaa Multimedia, said, “The Imam Ada Madaha who killed the children and mutilated their bodies had his house burned to ashes by the youth in Kakpayili, and that Madaha killed the children and hid their bodies in the vehicle parked in the yard of a house under his care.” The plaintiff considered the comment to be defamatory and brought his image and reputation into disrepute.

A publication on July 1, 2024, by the 5th defendant, Christopher Amoako, the regional correspondent of the 6th defendant, on their news portal 3news.com and live broadcast on TV3 news suggested that “Two children, both aged three, have been murdered in a suspected ritual killing at Kakpayili, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region. Their decomposed bodies, chopped into pieces, were abandoned in a vehicle behind one of Mallam Madaha’s houses. He earlier denied but later admitted to killing the two and the other six children, bringing the total number of children he killed to eight”, which the plaintiff described as defamatory of his image and reputation into disrepute.

However, the plaintiff is seeking the court to compel the defendants to immediately retract the said defamatory statements via the same media used in making them. In his complaint, the plaintiff requests that the court order the defendants to write letters to him personally, admitting that their statements were driven by malice and falsehood, and committing unequivocally not to repeat such false and slanderous remarks about him in the future.

As part of a writ to the High Court, the plaintiff seeks a monetary award from the court against the 1st and 2nd defendants of five hundred thousand cedis each and a monetary award from the court against the 3rd, 4th, and 5th defendants of four hundred thousand cedis for the defamatory comments that have put his reputation and image into disrepute.