Manasseh, others have no evidence to support publications - Witness tells Court

In a defamation suit against Awuni, the Media Foundation for West Africa, its Director, Sulemana Briamah, and Edwin Appiah, a co-editor (defendants), a witness of LCI, Marcel Aboagye, testified that the defendants had failed to present any evidence to the court in support of several defamatory allegations made against the LCI in their published articles titled “Darkness in a Lighthouse.”

At the General Jurisdiction Court (a division of the High Court) presided over by Justice Joseph Adu Owusu Agyemang, Aboagye stated that the defendants’ articles claimed that LCI owed several former church pastors over 42 years of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions.

The witness, pointing to the SSNIT Investigative report dated August 20, 2021, stated that SSNIT cleared LCI of those allegations.

According to the witness, the allegations were false, and the defendants presented no evidence that LCI owed former pastors any SSNIT contributions.

During cross-examination, the witness claimed that the defendants falsely published articles claiming that former pastors Larry Odonkor, Edward Laryea, Seth Duncan, and Faith Fiakojo were exploited by the church to build worship centres and schools in Wa, Kade, Paga, and Fumbisi with their resources

The witness went on to say that the publications falsely claimed that one of the former pastors, Seth Duncan, had attempted suicide three times due to maltreatment by the church.

The witness told the court that the defendants formed an “unholy alliance” with the former pastors and published those pieces out of malice.