The Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Mr. George Kweku Ricketts Hagan says he is not in the known of any court order demanding him to pay a GHS 100,000 fine for damages towards the Metro Chief Executive of Cape Coast, Mr. Ernest Arthur.
Referring to a press conference held by Mr. Ricketts Hagan after the confirmation of Mr. Arthur as MCE, Mr. Ricketts Hagan was alleged to have made unsavoury descriptions of the MCE, describing him as unfit to lead the metropolis.
But speaking to Mr. Ricketts Hagan, he told ATLFMNEWS that although he was served a court order following the press conference, he was not informed about going to court.
He however recounted how he was called by the Omanhene of Oguaa traditional area Osabarima Kwesi Atta II for the case to be settled out of court.
“This issue is not going to get anywhere so I want to resolve it. I want you and the MCE to agree on resolving this issue and have a joint statement that will be prepared by me and then I will do a press conference or press release indicating that we have resolved the issue amicably and that every word that was said is being withdrawn,” this he revealed was said by the Omanhene when he met him, Mr. Ernest Arthur, and the Cape Coast South NDC Chairman, Mr. Korankye Taylor.”
Press Statement
Mr. Ricketts Hagan noted that the press statement was prepared and a copy was brought to him to sign which he appended his signature.
He intimated that “since the Omanhene requested that the matter be left with him, “I have basically closed my mind to the issue. Since then, I have stopped having any exchanges on the matter with the MCE. So that is where we are. I don’t know what is going on. I just saw the publication on GhanaWeb. I don’t know where it is coming from. I have not been called to any court. I thought that even if there was going to be a court hearing, I will be called to go and defend what I said because it is supposed to be defamation. If I have said something I should be given an opportunity to prove or not to prove it; in that case whatever the consequences will be. But nobody has called me to any court.”
Filing of Defamation Suit
The MCE, Ernest Arthur, on October 26, 2021, filed a defamation suit against the MP following what he described as defamatory comments about him by Mr. Ricketts Hagan after his confirmation as MCE.
It is in light of this that the Cape Coast High Court has ordered the MP to pay the damages to Mr. Ernest Arthur.
Retraction
The court has also ordered the MP to, within three weeks, retract the defamatory statements made against the MCE through a press conference and also render an apology to the MCE.
The presiding judge, Justice Patience Mills Tetteh awarded in favour of the MCE, a cost of GHS 5,000 while restraining the MP, his agents, and privies from making further defamatory comments against the MCE.
Read also: Surrogacy catching up in Ghana – General Surgeon Specialist at CCTH
Source: ATLFMNEWS
