General News of Tuesday, 2 May 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

'Nothing is going to stop us now' – Ablakwa after defamation suit was dropped

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has indicated that he will stop at nothing to expose corruption related to the National Cathedral after the defamation case against him by the secretary to the Board of Trustees was dropped by an Accra High Court.

The secretary, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, sued the MP for defamation.

Speaking to the media after the case was thrown away, Okudzeto Ablakwa said the dropped case against him has encouraged him to continue to expose more rot related to the National Cathedral.

"It gives us impetus; it gives us more drive and inspiration to keep doing what is right in the national interest. Nothing is going to stop us now. We are no longer going to be distracted by all of these shenanigans, the abuse of the judicial process."

According to the court, the evidence presented by Rev. Kusi Boateng was filled with inconsistencies, thereby failing to meet the legal standards of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Background:

Rev. Kusi Boateng, member and secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, sued the Member of Parliament for North Tongu for defamation.

Accra-based Joy News reported on February 3, 2023, that the plaintiff [Rev Kusi Boateng], in his statement of claim, said the lawmaker, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, was engaged in actions he deemed "not only misleading but calculated to injure his reputation."

The main issue is Ablakwa's claims that the plaintiff's company, JNS Talent Centre, benefitted from illegal fund transfers from the National Cathedral Secretariat for no work done.

According to Rev. Kusi Boateng, misleading as the claims are, they have enjoyed wide readership and engagement on social media platforms where the MP routinely makes his publications.

He said the MP's actions are thus "calculated to injure the reputation of the plaintiff in the minds of his family members, his congregation, fellow ministers of the gospel (locally and internationally), well-meaning members of society, home and abroad."

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