Archer fails to appear in court in defamation case

Accra, March 19, GNA - An Accra Fast Track High Court on Thursday entered default judgment against Focal Media Limited, publishers of the Enquirer, a tri-weekly newspaper and its Editor, Mr. Raymond Archer. This was after Mr Archer failed to enter an appearance in court. Mr George Owusu, the Country Manager of Kosmos Energy, took Mr Archer to court for defamation.

Adjourning the matter to Wednesday March 25, Mrs. Justice Aryene Novisi, the trial judge, said the court was going to assess damages on the next adjourned date.

In her ruling the court said it had studied the affidavit and motion and found out that Mr Archer had failed to enter an appearance within the stipulated time provided under the law. It therefore granted relief sought following Mr. Archers' failure to enter an appearance.

Some of them include an order for perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, workmen and privies from publishing and writing similar defamatory statements. Plaintiff is seeking general damages for libel in the two separate publications.

Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, who represented Mr Owusu, moved the motion in support of an affidavit. He noted that at the court's last sitting, it granted an order that Mr Archer be served through a substituted service. Mr Faibille pointed out that the time for entry of appearance had elapsed and Mr Archer had refused to enter an appearance. He therefore prayed the court to enter default judgment against Mr Archer.

The Plaintiff, an environmental scientist and a businessman, had taken Mr Archer to court over a publication in the Wednesday 26-27th November 2008 issue of the newspaper headlined "How Kufuor saved the barons who bankrolled him . And scattered NACOB Probe."

The other publication was in the Friday 28- 30th November 2008 issue under the headline, "Narcotics Board Sniffs Kan Dapaah."

According to the plaintiff, the said two publications in their natural and ordinary meaning and by way of innuendo indicated that he was a drug baron, who had been saved from arrest, prosecution and conviction by former President Kufuor.

According to plaintiff, the publication portrayed that he used proceeds of narcotic to finance President Kufuor and his campaign for the presidency.

It further said the publication, seemed to suggest that he was an accomplice of Eric Amoateng who had been jailed in the US in connection with drugs.

The plaintiff maintained that at one stage during his sojourns in the United States of America he worked for Shell Oil in Houston, Texas, and as environmental scientist was in charge of procurement. Shell oil had a partnership with two other companies namely Texaco and Saudi Aramco. Sometime in 2004, Chevron, another US Oil company bought Texaco as a result of which Shell Oil could not continue doing business with Chevron.

Prior to the acquisition of Texaco by Chevron, Shell Oil, Texaco and Saudi Aramco partnership had ordered a large stock of promotion items, including T-shirts, pens embossed with logos of the companies in the partnership which could no longer be used as a result of the acquisition of Texaco by Chevron.

Plaintiff said executives of Shell Oil and Saudi Aramco then decided to send the promotional items to Mexico to be distributed to the needy in Mexico.

According to the plaintiff, he being in charge of procurement for the group informed executives of the group that he wanted to bring some of the items to Ghana to be given to the needy. Plaintiff said the executives, however, told him that he could not take the items for free hence there should make a token payment and he wrote a cheque for one dollar to the group.

Thereafter he met with Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, former Defence Minister, at a function and he informed him about his intentions. Mr. Dapaah agreed to help with shipment so that (he) Mr. Dapaah could get some of the promotional items for his constituency through the Kan Dapaah Foundation, a non-governmental organisation.

The plaintiff shipped a container of the promotional items to the Rev Kwabena Darko of Darko Farms and shared the items with him. Later, two law enforcement officers questioned him over the promotional items and the Narcotics Control Board conducted investigations into the Kan Dapaah Foundation and Mr George Yaw Owusu. A report by NACOB found that there were two people with the same name, George Owusu, and that both the Foundation and Mr. Owusu, the plaintiff, who was identified as the Managing Director of Kosmos Energy were found to be unconnected to a drug saga.