Renowned private legal practitioner Oliver Barker-Vormawor has taken to social media to criticise the ruling in the defamation suit filed against him by former Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
In a post shared on Facebook, Barker-Vormawor contended that the court ruling, which includes an order for him to pay $5m in damages to Kan-Dapaah, was wrong.
He claimed that the judge who presided over the case refused to give a new lawyer he hired time to get up to speed with the case and even refused him the opportunity to file a witness statement.
“After my lawyer was appointed as Deputy AG, I asked the court for an adjournment to appoint a new lawyer. He gave it. After a new lawyer was appointed, he asked the court for time to study the proceedings and also to prepare and file my witness statement.
“The judge refused and asked him to continue the cross-examination of Kan-Dapaah. He missed court one day, and when we got the record, the judge had struck out my defence and given a date to deliver judgment,” he wrote.
He added, “We filed a motion to relist the defence and filed my witness statement and that of my other witness. We also filed a motion to arrest judgment. The judge refused it and went ahead to give Kan-Dapaah judgment. Cross-examination, kraa, we couldn’t finish.”
The activist cum lawyer hinted that he was going to appeal the judgment of the High Court.
About the case
The court ordered Oliver Barker-Vormawor to pay GH¢5 million in damages for defaming former National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah.
The court also awarded an additional GH¢100,000 in costs in favour of the plaintiff.
The update was shared on X by Awisi Dede on Monday, March 2, 2026, with the post stating: “Court slaps Barker-Vormawor with GH¢5M in favour of Kan-Dapaah in his defamation case.”
GH¢10 Million Defamation Suit: Kan-Dapaah’s quest to seek costs denied
Barker-Vormawor’s legal team had applied to reinstate their statement of defence and witness statements after they were struck out, but the court dismissed the application, citing procedural inconsistencies.
The case arose from allegations by Barker-Vormawor that officials within the National Security apparatus and government representatives had offered him money to abandon his public advocacy.
Kan-Dapaah denied the claims and filed suit, seeking damages and an apology, arguing that the allegations of a $1 million bribery attempt were false and damaging to his reputation.
With this ruling, the court upheld Kan-Dapaah’s defamation claim, ordering Barker-Vormawor to pay the damages and costs. Kan-Dapaah also sought an injunction to prevent the repetition of similar allegations in the future, highlighting the legal consequences of unsubstantiated public claims.
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