Kwabena Agyepong is fighting a pointless battle

In a panel discussion on the Kumasi-based Ultimate-FM radio station, Mr. Kwame Adofo, a private legal practitioner, is reported to have accused Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, the indefinitely suspended General-Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), of having played the role of Judas Iscariot to then-Candidate Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the lead-up to the 2016 general election.

Naturally, Mr. Agyepong is reported to have taken umbrage and is suing his accuser for GH? 200,000 for defamation, a retraction and an apology (See “Kwabena Agyapong Fights Kumasi Lawyer Over ‘Judas’ Claims; Demands GHC 200K” MyNewsGh.com 10/28/17).

The preceding accusation comes in the wake of vigorous attempts by some Kumasi-based NPP youthful supporters to have Mr. Agyepong, who has expressed a strong desire to be restored to his old position and job, to be afforded the same. Now, that is a tough sell, as it were, being that there is virtual unanimity among an overwhelming majority of party leaders that Mr. Agyepong, and at least two of his fellow indefinitely suspended associates, namely, Mr. Paul A. Afoko, the substantive Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, and Mr. Sammy Crabbe, the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the NPP, had not conducted themselves in ways that redounded to the benefit of both the New Patriotic Party at large, and, in particular, then-Candidate Akufo-Addo in the lead-up to last December’s general election.

And so there is absolutely no doubt that Mr. Agyepong has an extremely difficult battle ahead of him, if, indeed, he wants to be given back his old job. The fact of the matter is that he has been so long gone and had not played any known significant role in the party’s 2016 resounding electoral victory that but for his most ardent and staunch supporters, Mr. Agyepong and his indefinitely suspended associates have been virtually forgotten.

In other words, these three gentlemen, politically speaking, may very well be deemed to be as good as dead. This might have been what prompted Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako (aka Chairman Wontumi), the firebrand Asante Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, to mock that Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, the General-Secretary of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), had a far better chance of being named to Mr. Agyepong’s old post than the latter himself.

Now, on the question of his defamation suit against Lawyer Adofo, truth has been widely acknowledged to be the best defense against any libel suit alleging a defamation of the character of the plaintiff. What this means is that if Mr. Adofo, the respondent, is able to marshal ample evidence to demonstrate that, indeed, he was speaking on the strength of forensically sustainable evidence when he called Mr. Agyepong a “Judas,” or a traitor to the cause of the then-opposition New Patriotic Party, the accused is very likely to walk away unscathed.

And, of course, Mr. Agyepong would likely have a difficult time explaining away why he and his other two aforementioned associates were indefinitely suspended from their prime executive positions at the party’s Kokomlemle Headquarters. And, as may be readily surmised, there is bound to be absolutely no shortage of witnesses who may be willing to testify in staunch support and behalf of Mr. Adofo.

And you know what, dear reader? This may likely not happen, but Lawyer Adofo could well counter-sue the plaintiff for wasting his precious monetary resources and time in self-defense. And guess what? Lawyer Adofo could actually walk away with more money in his wallet, in the form of damages for legal frivolity, on the part of the plaintiff, than he spent in his self-defense.