L-R: Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Kennedy Agyapong and Kweku Baako
The former Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has once again attracted attention following his ongoing legal battle with investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Known for his controversial nature and outspoken stance, the politician and former lawmaker seems to have a long-standing feud with journalists in the country, marked by a history of legal conflicts with media figures.
However, records reveal a pattern of the politician losing legal battles against journalists, from Anas Aremeyaw Anas to Kevin Taylor.
Kweku Baako
In a defamation case, Kennedy Agyapong lost to Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, following a ruling by the Accra High Court in 2020.
The court ordered Kennedy Agyapong to retract and apologize three times on the platforms he used to defame Kweku Baako within 30 days, as well as pay damages amounting to GH¢25 million.
Kweku Baako stated that comments made by the politician on media platforms in 2018 had defamed him and harmed his reputation in the eyes of “right-thinking” members of society.
Kevin Taylor
In 2022, Kennedy Agyapong lost a defamation lawsuit against US-based journalist Kevin Taylor. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case, stating that the politician failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the statements made by Kevin Taylor about him were defamatory.
This was after the former MP filed a fifteen-page suit against Kevin Taylor and Loud Silence Media over what he described as a series of “false and defamatory statements in a series of videos and an email correspondence published by defendants via Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms about Plaintiff.”
His suit came after the defendant, Kevin Taylor and his organization (Loud Silence) had on several occasions referred to the plaintiff as a “murderer, drug dealer, and drug addict, thief, and green card fraudster”.
Additionally, Kennedy Agyapong’s demand for US$9.5 million in damages was not awarded to him.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas
An Essex County Court in New Jersey awarded $18 million to investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in a defamation lawsuit against Kennedy Agyapong.
The lawsuit, filed on May 17, 2022, in the Essex County Superior Court, accused Kennedy Agyapong and media personality Frederick Asamoah of making defamatory statements about Anas during an episode of The Daddy Fred Show, an online program popular among Ghanaian audiences in the United States.
During the program, Agyapong allegedly made a series of false and damaging claims, including accusing Anas of being a criminal, a thief, and responsible for the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale.
MAG/EK
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