EDWARD ANNAN vs. EGBERT FAIBILLE & 2 OTHERS

On Tuesday 27th May 2003, the Independent Newspaper, which is published by the 3rd defendant Trans Afrika News Limited with the 1st and 2nd defendants as its Managing Editor and Editor respectively, carried a publication on its front page with a bold headline, "Recent rumpus at GPHA TOP NDC MAN EXPOSED OVER $60m CONTRACT". The top NDC man referred to in the publication happened to be the plaintiff, Mr. Edward Annan and by 'NDC' is meant the National Democratic Congress, the party that formed the first government of the fourth republic of Ghana and the current largest opposition party in the country. The plaintiff, who thought his reputation had been damaged by the said publication, commenced this action on the 29th day of May 2003 (i.e. two days after the publication), against the three defendants claiming among others, general damages (including aggravated/exemplary damages) for libel. His pleaded case was that he is a well-known businessman of repute with extensive business int...