Afenyo-Markin withdraws defamation suit against NEIP CEO, Eric Adjei

Story by: Regina Bless

The Achimota Circuit Court has struck out, as withdrawn, a defamation suit filed by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin against the Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Eric Adjei.

The suit followed comments by Mr Adjei, who repeated allegations of extortion against Mr Afenyo-Markin after the Minority Leader criticised GoldBod and its Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, over alleged losses of $1.9 billion under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

At the court on Tuesday, October 20, counsel for Mr Afenyo-Markin, led by Paa Kwesi Abaidoo, informed the presiding judge of the Minority Leader’s decision to withdraw the writ following engagements between the two parties.

Counsel for Mr Adjei confirmed that discussions had taken place, after which the court struck out the writ as withdrawn.

Speaking after the proceedings, Mr Adjei’s lawyer, Gideon Koku Abotsi, explained that the decision followed an appeal by a High Court judge for the parties to resolve their differences amicably outside the courtroom.

The development comes a week after the High Court struck out a separate defamation suit filed against Sammy Gyamfi on grounds that the writ was defective.

The latest development marks a further turn in the legal dispute arising from the public exchanges over GoldBod and the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. The withdrawal of the suit means the case has been struck out as withdrawn, rather than determined through a full trial on the merits of the defamation allegations.