Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has brushed aside suggestions that the victory by ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his defamation case against former Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong provides enough basis for the conclusion that Ghana's judicial system is fraught with bias and corruption.

According to him, the differing outcomes in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ defamation suits against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong are not indicative of an ailing Ghanaian judicial system.

In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, on March 19, 2025, Martin Kpebu insisted such assumptions would be absurd and far-fetched, as the two cases were not the same.

“As a lawyer, it is not something that I can easily say that based on the fact that Anas won a different case in the US and lost one in Ghana we can ipso facto say that the Ghanaian court doesn’t give justice…no, we can’t just give such a blanket statement because it was not the same case that was presented in the two courts,” he stated.

While affirming his stance, Martin Kpebu also recognized the right of citizens to thoroughly examine the judiciary and register their frustrations with its performance.

“…Being a citizen, I’m also aware that generally, citizens are saying that they don’t like what the courts are doing etc and that is reflected in Afrobarometer surveys.

“So, if you check the Afrobarometer report, on public perception of corruption on systems in Ghana, the judiciary ranked among other systems in the country that is not doing too well. The judiciary ranked 5th on the list with a percentage of 44% by most respondents and 47% by some respondents. So, you will see that the judiciary hasn’t been doing well and it is not the judiciary only. Ghana Police Service is also complicit in it and other institutions,” the legal expert added.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas filed separate defamation cases against Kennedy Agyapong in Ghana and the United States of America.

In the Ghana case, Justice Eric Baah in a decision dated March 15, 2023 dismissed Anas' reliefs on grounds that Kennedy Agyapong's "statement was substantially factual, and therefore, justified."

He opined that the comments "could not have succeeded in actually defaming the plaintiff. Some of the long list of words made by defendant and tendered as exhibit C were capable of defamatory meanings, but none was proven to have actually defamed the plaintiff."

On the other hand, the United States of America (USA) case was centered on defamatory statements made by Kennedy Agyapong after the release of the BBC’s investigative documentary, ‘Betraying the Game’, on October 28, 2018.

Martin Kpebu further explained that the move by Anas Aremeyaw Anas to quash the earlier ruling in the Supreme Court received fair treatment to some extent, given that out of the five judges who sat on the case, two ruled in favour of him.

“Anas filed in the Supreme Court to quash it because the judge called Anas’ work journalistic terrorism or so, but when it went to the Supreme Court Anas didn’t fare poorly. Out of the five judges who sat on the case, three ruled against Anas and two judges in the person of Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu and Justice Yonny Kulendi ruled in his favour,” he said.

Background

A jury in the Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey on Tuesday found former Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong for Assin Central liable for defamation and awarded investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas $18 million in damages.

Reacting to the judgement, the investigative journalist said the court ruling is a powerful message to Ghanaian politicians that the media cannot be taken for granted.

VPO/EK