Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. (SML) has filed a GH¢21 million defamation lawsuit against prominent investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni over allegations made in his recently published book ‘The President Ghana Never Got’.
The lawsuit centers on Chapter 28 of Mr. Awuni’s book, titled ‘The Mother of All Scandals’, which discusses SML’s contracts with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Government of Ghana (GoG) for revenue assurance services.
According to court documents filed in the High Court of Justice in Accra, SML alleges that Mr. Awuni described their contract as “the biggest scam,” a “shady deal,” and “the SML scandal.” The company further claims that Mr. Awuni characterised statements made by SML regarding its contract as “falsehoods” and “a lie,” while calling the company’s agreements “needless” and “redundant.”
SML, represented by Sam Okudzeto & Associates, is seeking GH¢1 million in general damages for defamation and GH¢20 million in exemplary damages for what they term “malicious reporting.”
The company is also requesting a perpetual injunction against further defamatory publications, along with a retraction of the chapter and a public apology.
In its Statement of Claim, SML outlined its business relationship with the GRA, which began in January 2019 with a contract to provide Transaction Audit Services and External Price Verification Services for customs operations.
The company stated that its services were later extended to cover operations within the petroleum downstream sector in April and October 2019.
“Since the commencement of its contracts with the GRA, revenue from the downstream petroleum sector has significantly increased and at all material times, the Plaintiff has carried out its obligations under the contracts with utmost integrity, accountability and transparency,” the court filing stated.
On October 25, 2023, SML’s contract was expanded further to include upstream petroleum and minerals revenue audit under a new five-year agreement called the ‘Contract for the Consolidation of Revenue Assurance Services’.
The company maintains that this contract operated on a ‘Risk-Reward basis’, whereby SML would bear infrastructure and technology costs and be compensated from any increased revenue.
This is not the first legal action between the parties. The lawsuit notes that SML previously filed a suit against the journalist following what it described as defamatory material published in a YouTube documentary on December 18, 2023, as well as various articles and social media posts.
In its particulars of malice, SML alleges that Awuni, “as an educated journalist knew or ought to have known that the GRA and GoG had the sole responsibility, in their capacity as procuring entities, of ensuring legal compliance in the processes leading up to the execution of a contract of the present nature.”
The company further claimed that Mr. Awuni’s reporting has resulted in significant business losses, stating that “the onslaught of backlash from the public which has arisen from the Defendant’s publication of Chapter 28 of his book has adversely impacted Plaintiff’s operations by causing the Plaintiff to lose potential contracts from Tanzania, Kenya and Ivory Coast.”
SML contends that during Mr. Awuni’s investigation, he was given a guided tour of the technology deployed by the Plaintiff and was shown how the Plaintiff was actively and effectively performing its obligations of revenue assurance under its contract with GRA and the government.
According to the company, it never hid or withheld any information from the Defendant during Defendant’s investigations except insofar as such information was confidential to protect Plaintiff’s business operations.
