An Accra High Court, presided by Justice Sophia Rosetta Bernasko-Essah, has granted a relief for a writ of summons to be served on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, through a substituted service.
The court’s decision was due to reports that Mr. Asiedu Nketia was allegedly swerving bailiffs in a desperate bid to avoid being served the writ of summons in a GH¢15 million defamation suit brought against him by former Auditor General of Ghana, Edward Dua-Agyeman.
The relief was granted by the court on November 8, 2018 after several efforts by bailiffs to trace the NDC chief scribe, popularly known as General Mosquito, to his home and head office of the party at Adabraka in Accra, reportedly failed to materialize.
According to the affidavit, which DAILY GUIDE has in its possession, Mr. Asiedu Nketia has been avoiding the phone calls of the bailiffs.
The affidavit showed that the bailiff (name withheld) had gone to Asiedu Nketia’s home and the NDC head office on four different occasions – October 25, 29, 31 and November 3, 2018, but was unsuccessful in serving him as he was nowhere to be found.
“That on 25, 29, 31 October and 3 November, 2018, I attempted service on the defendant at his Oyarifa house and at the NDC head office, Adabraka Accra. I have no access to the house, I contacted him and no one responded,” the affidavit of non-service read.
It also indicated that when the plaintiff went back to the NDC head office again, the bailiff was told that Asiedu Nketia had travelled out of Accra and was on a campaign trail.
“All efforts to serve them proved futile so I returned…” the affidavit of non-service indicated.
Gary Nimarko, lawyer for the former Auditor-General, subsequently filed an application for substituted service which the court granted.
Suit
The former Auditor General, Edward Dua-Agyeman has slapped the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia with a gargantuan defamatory suit, demanding GH₵15 million damages.
Prof Dua-Agyeman, Board Chairman of the Audit Service, has dragged Asiedu Nketia, before an Accra High Court over comments he made on radio intended to damage his reputation.
Johnson Asiedu Nketia alleged that the former Auditor General churned out fake audit reports based on which he was sacked by the accountants association.
According to the writ, “Without basis or probable cause, Asiedu Nketia ostensibly sought to impugn the integrity, dignity and reputation of the plaintiff and to ridicule him in the eyes of right-thinking members of society.”
The plaintiff averred that Asiedu Nketia on October 2, 2018 made some unsubstantiated and disparaging statements on an Accra-based radio station, Neat FM, accusing him of producing fake audit accounts in 1983 while he was at the Audit Service leading to his dismissal.
But the former Auditor General took exception to the comments, saying his comments generated media attention in Ghana and abroad ostensibly to tarnish his hard won reputation.
In the suit filed by his lawyers, Gary Nimako of SAFO&MARFO@LAW averred that the plaintiff understands the comment to mean that he produced a fake audit report for a non-existent company in 1983 which caused him to be banned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) “to mean that he is a person who is dishonest or acted dishonestly in return for personal gain.”
Contrary to claims by Asiedu Nketia, Prof Dua-Agyeman stated that a letter authored by Prof Kwame Adom-Frimpong, President of Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) Council (ICAG) dated 15th October, 2018 showed that he has been in good standing since 1978 and has never been banned.
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