BENNEH v. NEW TIMES CORPORATION AND ANOTHER

JUDGMENT OF AMPIAH J.

By his writ of summons, the plaintiff claims from the defendants jointly and severally ¢50,000 damages for defamation. The plaintiff, until the termination of his appointment on or about 1 November 1979, was the regional manager of the Food Distribution Corporation at Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana.

The first defendant-corporation is the printer of the Ghanaian Times newspaper, a daily Ghanaian publication, and the second defendant is the regional representative of the first defendant-corporation at Sunyani.

On 5 April 1979, the first defendant-corporation is said to have published through its representative, the second defendant, the following statement of and concerning the plaintiff.

"The popular Ananse folk tale 'You do me, I do you' is being enacted here by eighteen dismissed workers of the Food Distribution Corporation and the Brong-Ahafo area manager of the corporation, Mr. K. D. Benneh.

The workers had been summarily dismissed, and two others suspended by Mr. Benneh, for flouting his orders to off-load a consignment of 15 bags of rice, following Mr. Benneh's refusal to give them their staff allocation of one polythene bag of rice each.

Annoyed, the workers swore to expose the 'illicit rice deals' by Mr. Benneh. They, therefore reported to the police that he had stolen 15 maxi bags of rice valued at ¢3,600 belonging to the corporation.

When Special Branch men took Mr. Benneh to his hometown, Berekum, last Friday, they found in his house eleven bags suspected to be part of the allegedly stolen fifteen bags. Police have so far not found any documents at the corporation's offices to show that Mr. Benneh paid for the fifteen bags. They are still investigating the case.

Police sources said, on March 29, the dismissed workers decided not to off-load a consignment of rice which the regional branch of the corporation received until they were assured of one polythene bag each as staff rice allocation. But Mr. Benneh rejected their plea and, in the process dismissed all of them. He also suspended two others on the same day for flouting his orders. Later, Mr. Benneh went to town and recruited labourers to off-load the consignment.

The dismissed workers, not happy with their plight, laid ambush around the offices of the corporation and according to [p.306] them found Mr. Benneh loading the rice onto a corporation truck after office hours. They then reported the deal to the Special Branch who arrested Mr. Benneh. The