By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, 17 November 2006
An Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday dismissed a libel suit filed by former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings against the publishers of the Daily Guide newspaper, the editor and a reporter of the paper.
Western Publications Limited, the editor, Gina Blay and reporter Ato Sam, (popularly called Baby Ansabah, who is no longer with the paper) were cited for a story in the paper on July 6, 2005, headlined "Milking the Sacred Cow, Konadu Owes ¢2.8 billion to the State".
Mrs. Rawlings had demanded general damages including "aggravated and/or exemplary damages" for libel in respect of the words published by Daily Guide and its editors.
She also sought the court’s order to restrain the defendants from further publishing similar or other libellous statements about her.
She said that the context of the story portrayed her as a fraudulent and dishonest person and the publication had injured her hard-won reputation.
The court, presided over by Justice Iris May Brown, upheld the paper’s position that the publication was made in the public interest.
The court said the fact that the former First Lady as the wife of the then Head of State used her position to secure government loan of "this magnitude" for a private purpose which is yet to be paid "should be of public interest."
Mrs. Justice Brown said the Daily Guide’s defence of "public interest" was acceptable because Mrs. Rawlings herself had admitted that there was nothing wrong with the body of the story but only complained about the headline.
The judge said the plaintiff could not rely on the "mere interpretations" of the words used by the defendants to support her case, saying, "The defence relied on contextual proof and published the story without malice.
"The words complained of must be explained in context and not in isolation," she said.
"In defamation suits, the headline and the body should form the basis of the action," she added.
The court did not award any cost.
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