Lawyer for Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Raphael Agyapong has accused the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako of committing perjury.
According to the legal representative of the New Patriotic Party flagbearer hopeful, some pronouncements by the senior journalist following the publication of a report by the former environment minister, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng shows that Mr Baako lied under oath when he testified during a trial in 2019.
“C&J Alaska initially sued Ken that he had defamed their company and within the same period Kweku Baako had sued Ken that among other things, Ken had falsely accused him of engaging in galamsey (illegal small-scale mining). In the C&J case we went to court and we called witnesses including officials of the Minerals Commission who led evidence to prove that indeed C&J was engaged in serious galamsey causing destruction to the land.
“At the time C&J were sacked from their site for engaging in galamsey, they fell on Kweku Baako to intervene on their behalf and Kweku Baako called the then minister that C&J are his people,” Raphael Agyapong narrated in an interview on Okay FM.
Quoting from court records, Mr Agyapong said the journalist during cross examination in his defamation case told the court that he did not have personal relationship with C&J or its owners.
This he noted is contrary to what Kweku Baako has since come out to say following the publication of a leaked report by Mr Frimpong-Boateng, which report was submitted to the Chief of Staff in 2021 about illegal mining.
“On June 4, 2019 Kweku Baako mounted the witness box, he says he knows someone at C&J and he intervened on their behalf. However Kweku Baako under cross examination said it was rather a friend of his whose client is C&J the said friend he mentioned was lawyer Egbert Faibille.
“The question I asked him was have you had any discussion with Prof Frimpong-Boateng on matters relating to C&J Alaska Company? Despite saying in his recent letter that he called the minister twice, here he said he called him once. He lied because he said he knows one of the C&J directors so he intervened personally but under cross examination this is what he said: ‘on 20th October 2017, upon the request from the then lawyer of C&J Alaska, Mr Egbert Faibille, I called Frimpong-Boateng and arranged for a meeting between him and C&J Alaska representatives,” the lawyer quoted from court records.
In his report which indicted several individuals of being complicit in illegal mining activities, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said Kweku Baako once called him on phone claiming to have close relationship with the owners of C&J Alaska.
“I, in particular, came under severe attack. A fierce attacker was Mr Kweku Baako, a journalist who personally called me to inform me that manages of J&J were his friends. Mr. Kweku Baako published unsavoury things about me at the time,” the report captured.
In a response to the report which was recently published in the media, Mr Kweku Baako confirmed the call to the minister and his personal relationship with the owners of the company.
“I made two (2) telephone calls to you on 20th October, 2017 (official MTN call chart available for verification and authentication) the purpose of which was to arrange an appointment for the Canadian owner of C&G Aleska Company, Simon Adyin and Donald Entsuah, the Ghanaian General Manager of the company, to see you.
“The two (2) telephone calls which lasted 4 minutes, 25 seconds (combined) resulted in you kindly agreeing to meet the two gentlemen representing the company under reference at 4pm, in your office.
“During my second call to you (same day; 20th October, 2017), I explained to you the purpose of the meeting you had scheduled for them in your office at 4pm that day. I told you that the two gentlemen (one of whom Donald was a personal friend) intended to brief you on the consistent invasion of the Company’s concessions by galamseyers since October 2016. I also informed you about their claims that you were trying to get Cabinet to suspend or cancel their legitimate lease for large scale mining without due process, and to dispel rumours that their concession actually belonged to Ibrahim Mahama. I remember telling you that they would be presenting relevant and authentic documentation to defend their case. I also promised to send you reports and documents I had gathered on galamsey operations since August 2016 as a result of an investigative project undertaken by The New Crusading GUIDE,” Kweku Baako said in a rejoinder.
But according to Raphael Agyapong, Kweku Baako claimed contrary under oath and has thus committed perjury.
“Look at the destruction galamsey is causing to our forest and river bodies and as an elderly man you call to intervene on behalf of such a company and when you are questioned, you claim not to know them. However, you know them personally. There is a personal relationship based on your own letter but when you mounted the dock you lied, lying under oath is perjury,” the lawyer stated.