Gabby sues NDC’s Zita Benson over Agyapa deal

Private legal practitioner and a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere-Darko has for the second time sued a private individual for what he says are libellous publications against his person on the controversial Agyapa Royalties agreement.

This second suit, against Sabah Zita Benson (formerly known as Zita Sabah Okaikoi), comes weeks after Mr. Otchere-Darko filed a similar suit against NDC MP for Bia East, Richard Acheampong.

Madam Zita Benson, a former Tourism and Information Minister, and later Ambassador, under President Mills, is said to have published on her Facebook wall on Saturday, August 29, an audio-visual of herself titled, “Family and Friends: Agyapa Royalties,” in which she allegedly made defamatory claims against the NPP stalwart.

The writ, issued at the High Court on Wednesday by Kissi Adjabeng, lawyer for Gabby Otchere-Darko, argues that the said publication has been understood to mean that Mr. Otchere-Darko “is fraudulent and dishonest”, “is engaging in criminal capture and dissipation of public funds”, and that he “is corrupt and he engages in reprehensible clandestine dealings to arrogate or convert public funds”.

According to the writ, Madam Zita also made people believe, among other things, that Mr. Otchere-Darko “is a member of a nepotistic family and he, in cahoots with other members of his family, engages in inordinate and dishonest monetary gain through the seizure and plundering of public funds, assets and companies”.

Lawyers for Mr. Otchere-Darko would want the Court to award general damages to their client for the false, injurious publication made against him, as well as aggravated exemplary damages arising from the said false audio-visual publication.

Agyapa deal in Ghana’s interest – Finance Minister

The government has maintained that the approval of five agreements to allow a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties Limited, to leverage Ghana’s mineral royalties to secure about $1 billion is in the best interest of Ghana.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has explained that the deal would allow the government to leverage Ghana’s mineral royalties to finance large infrastructural projects, especially in mining communities.

The minister has subsequently dispelled some public assertions that the deal was shrouded in secrecy and raised conflict of interest issues.

He has stressed that due procedure was followed in enacting the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF) Act, 2018 (Act 978) and the subsequent approval of the five agreements that paved the way for Agyapa Royalties to own the rights to mineral royalties in the country.