The High Court has ordered the Graphic Communications Group to apologize and retract a false story published against the Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority, Delese Mimi Darko.
The Court gave the order after finding it to be false, a story published by the state-owned media house alleging that Delese Mimi Darko was being investigated for being involved in a bribe transaction brought to the fore in an investigative piece by a journalist which implicated FDA’s former head of its legal unit.
The judge held that the injury suffered to the Plaintiff’s reputation cannot be denied to have had a far-reaching consequence on her person hence the decision.
The defendant is expected to within 14 days of the date of judgment, issue an unqualified apology and retraction of the defamatory publication on their online platform and give it the same prominence the defamatory statement received.
It will be recalled that an investigative report exposed the then head of Legal Affairs at the FDA for demanding a $200,000 bribe from the manufacturer of COA FS to prevent his products from getting suspended from the market.
In publishing the story, the Graphic Communications Group is said to have falsely put out that the Board of the Authority had begun investigating the Chief Executive for being involved in the scandal.
