Tarkwa Nsuem MP George Mireku Duker has sued the Dompim-Pepesa Chief, Nana Nyowah Panyin IV, for defamation over galamsey.
The suit, which was filed on October 14, 2022, has Multimedia Group and Class Media Group listed as parties to the case.
In an earlier interview, the chief alleged that Mr. Duker, the MCE for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly Benjamin Kesse, and the regional minister were behind the illegal mining (galamsey) menace.
Nana Nyonwah Panyin IV added that he had incontrovertible evidence of their involvement in the activity.
But the legislator who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources said the allegation is simply meant to distract him from his duties to the country.
“I do not own a concession, I do not have a concession, I do not invest into any mining of any kind, and I am not into mining. Let me make that clear and I have said that time, and again that mining is not done in a hidden place; it is done in an open place.
“You cannot just speculate. If you know a concession owned by Mireku Duker, everybody and the community will testify. It is also a strategy to distort my assignment, my focus,” he explained.
According to the MP, the said accusation has “violently damaged” his reputation and his chances of winning the general elections come December 2024.
“The words complained of are absolutely false, products of the defendants’ imagination and were mischievously designed by the defendant to disparage me, stain my reputation, court public disaffection for me and to bring me into abhorrence in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public and the global community,” Mr. Mireku Duker’s lawsuit said.
He also said the two stations did not give him a chance to respond to the allegations.
The legislator has therefore demanded GH¢10 million in compensation as well as aggravated damages from the publication of the allegations by the two media houses.
He also wants the parties in the case to retract and apologise for their role in spreading the claims.