News recently broke that the President of the Ghana Football Association, Mr. Kurt Edwin Simeon Okraku, has brought a suit against journalist Atta Poku for defamation.
This court case has generated intense debate about the ramifications of this lawsuit and how it will shape the interaction between the media and the Ghana Football Association in the months to come.
For quite a number of months now, Atta Poku, along with other journalists like Saddick Adams Obama, and football officials such as Alhaji Karim Grusah, have made derogatory comments about Okraku. These comments have largely gone unchecked.
Okraku’s decision to take legal action may have been seen as inevitable by some, given the persistent nature of these attacks. The lawsuit seeks GHC 30 million in damages, a public retraction, and an apology from Atta Poku and the owners of the media platform on which he made the purportedly defamatory remarks.
This move by Okraku has significant implications for the Ghanaian football community, the media, and the broader discussion around free speech and defamation.
On one hand, Okraku’s actions may be seen as a necessary step to protect his reputation and that of the Ghana Football Association.
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The allegations made against him, including claims of misappropriating funds and mistreating players, are serious and have the potential to damage his credibility and the organization he leads. Indeed, Okraku avers, in the suit brought against Atta Poku, that his image has been seriously dented by the publications cited in it.
On the other hand, there are those who may view this lawsuit as an attempt to silence critics and stifle free speech. The media plays a crucial role in holding those in power accountable, and lawsuits like this one can have a chilling effect on journalists and commentators who fear reprisal for speaking out.
All told, there has been a rising view that quite a number of media personalities have resorted to using their access to the media to perpetrate agendas against public officials. This has been termed by some commentators as the “tyranny of the media”.
Allegations in the media space
The media landscape in Ghana has witnessed several instances where a journalist makes allegations and derogatory remarks against a public figure and is later on proven wrong.
When the offending journalist is asked to retract and apologise, he or she typically does not give the purported retraction and apology the same level of prominence he or she gave the original offending publication. This phenomenon is one which observers of the practice of journalism in Ghana have decried time and time again.
As the case unfolds, it will be interesting to watch how Atta Poku responds and how the court ultimately rules.
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Will this lawsuit have a deterrent effect on others who might speak out against Okraku and the GFA, or will it embolden them to continue what they deem as being speaking truth to power? Only time will tell.
