CHRIS KUMASSAH-AGBOGLI vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND ANOTHER

The 10th – 16th April 2003 edition of the “Crusading Guide” newspaper carried an article captioned: “$30,000 Fraud Uncovered – As Official of Registrar-General’s Department inflates cost of Registration of Company and pockets surplus cash.” The article alleged that the plaintiff/appellant herein was the perpetrator of the fraud. Subsequent to the publication, the Registrar-General set up a committee to go into the allegation made by the newspaper. The committee duly investigated the matter and found, among other things, that the plaintiff/appellant (hereinafter referred to only as the plaintiff (then a Principle Executive Officer at the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) ) had collected an amount of US$30,000.00 from a foreign investor (ostensibly on behalf of the Registrar-General) and issued a hand-written receipt to that effect. The committee also found that the plaintiff had thereby committed an act of gross misconduct under the provisions of the Civil Service Act...