MOHAMMED RIDWAN DANKOYA @MOHAMMED RIDWAN MOHAMMED vs YUSSIF ABDUL GANIYU & ANOR

This High Court defamation case arises from statements uttered during the 'Zongo Mei Yayi' radio program, aired on the 2nd Defendant’s platform and hosted by the 1st Defendant. The Plaintiff, an Islamic scholar, philanthropist, businessman, and Chief Executive of Alpha Radio, claimed that innuendo in the broadcast accused him of diverting community assets into private ownership and labeled such persons thieves and untruthful. He sought declaratory relief, injunction, damages including aggravated and exemplary damages, a retraction and public apologies, and costs. He relied on Ghana Institute of Languages transcripts and audio/video recordings but called no witnesses to show that third parties heard the broadcast or linked the innuendo to him. Applying the Evidence Act’s burdens of persuasion and production and elements of defamation, and citing authorities such as Zabrama v Segbedzi and Benjamin Kwasi Duffour v Bank of Ghana, the court found the absence of material third-party witnesses fatal. It dismissed all claims and awarded GH¢10,000 costs to each Defendant.