Bright Simons Speaks After Ibrahim Mahama's GH¢10m Lawsuit, Says "We Shall Not Be Deterred"
- Bright Simons has acknowledged receipt of the writ served on Ibrahim by Ibrahim Mahama and his lawyers
- Ibrahim Mahama is suing Bright Simons for allegedly damaging his reputation with an article about operations at his Damang gold mine
- Bright Simons, in response to Ibrahim Mahama, expressed his readiness to face the renowned industrialist, who is President John Dramani Mahama's brother, in court
Bright Simons, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, has reacted to Ibrahim Mahama's GH¢10 million defamation lawsuit against him.
The suit accused Simons of a series of false and malicious publications that have damaged his reputation and that of his company.
Source: Instagram
According to CitiNews, Bright Simons made the defamatory claims in an article published on his site titled “Ghana Provides a Lesson in How Not to Nationalise a Gold Mine”.
In an online post published on Bright Simons' X page, he acknowledged the receipt of Ibrahim Mahama's writ, saying,
"This afternoon, I saw in the media that the brother of Ghana's President has filed a suit against me for defamation. I also got a copy of the writ online."
Simons reiterated Ibrahim Mahama's grievances, for which he is suing.
He's unhappy, because I said his company has been "hit" financially as a result of a mining company's decision to suspend some operations, which his company had hitherto been paid to support; and also that some of his creditors have been "up in arms" due to, among other factors, the financial pressures emanating from the Damang situation.
After studying the suit carefully, my lawyers and I have resolved to defend the above statements vigorously in court.
In response to Ibrahim Mahama's grievances, Bright Simons maintains that he published nothing defamatory against the CEO of Engineers and Planners, who is President John Dramani Mahama's brother.
It is basic common sense that if a service that is paid for is suspended, there will be financial consequences.
It is also basic common sense that when creditors loan money, and there are delays in payback, that they will "protest vigorously". The idiom, "up in arms", simply means "protesting vigorously".
It is common knowledge that Mr. Ibrahim Mahama's company was given a loan of $68 million to expand/retool the fleet at Damang in 2020 and that there have been delays in payment leading to credit loss provisioning. Creditors normally "protest vigorously" when that happens.
After publishing the article which is the root of the lawsuit, I had a conversation with Mr. Ibrahim Mahama during which I requested that he provides any documents that can shed further light on these issues. He chose not to do so.
We consider his lawsuit as intended to deter the most basic coverage of his affairs even if it touches on public interest (in the US, such suits are called SLAPPs - https://anti-slapp.org/what-is-a-slapp). The fact that the government has nationalised a mine where he is the prime contractor suggests the possibility that he could continue delivering services there, but this time to a state-owned mine. That alone makes him a fair target for public interest scrutiny.
We bear no malice towards Mr. Ibrahim Mahama. But we shall not be deterred from continuing to scrutinise any dealings of his that we believe have public policy implications.
As I like to say, accountability is a marathon. We look forward to establishing through the discovery process in court that I have published nothing defamatory about Mr. Ibrahim Mahama. Every inference was based on pure fact, common sense, and analytical judgement.
Kennedy Agyapong teases Anas after award reversal
In a related story, YEN.com.gh reported that Kennedy Agyapong rejoiced after a US court released its judgment in the defamation case against him by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
In a video, the former MP was captured celebrating the victory with his supporters in a hotel.
Many Ghanaians who came across the video thronged the comment sections to share their views.
Source: YEN.com.gh
