Former Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond, has filed a defamation lawsuit against popular broadcaster Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly known as Captain Smart, over comments allegedly made during a broadcast on Onua TV.

The legal action stems from comments attributed to Captain Smart and his co-host, which suggested that K.T. Hammond made tribalistic remarks questioning how an individual of Ewe descent could win the parliamentary seat in Adansi Asokwa, located in the Ashanti Region.

The controversy arose following the declaration of the December 7, 2024, Presidential and Parliamentary election results. K.T. Hammond, who contested on the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) ticket, lost his seat to Godwin Animli Dorgbadzi Dorani of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

On December 9, 2024, during a broadcast of the Onua TV programme "Ghana Decides 2024 – Election Command Center – Abatoɔ Asodɛɛ", Captain Smart and his co-host allegedly attributed the following remarks to Mr Hammond:

"He said, he said: ah! How can an Ewe person unseat me? Eh, eh? He said: why would an Ewe person be the one to take the seat from me in an Ashanti township?"

Mr Hammond argues that these words, both in their ordinary and implied meanings, portray him as a tribalistic and close-minded individual incapable of accepting the victory of a Ghanaian of Ewe descent in the Ashanti Region.

The former MP asserts that the publication and subsequent republication of the alleged comments have caused significant harm to his reputation, subjected him to public ridicule, and inflicted severe emotional distress.

He is therefore seeking the following reliefs from the court:

i. Damages, including special, aggravated and exemplary damages for libel published by the Defendants herein and republished by many local and international media;

ii. An injunction restraining the Defendants and each of them, whether by themselves, their servants, or agents or otherwise from further publishing or causing to be published the said words or similar words defamatory of the Plaintiff;

iii. An order directed to the Defendants to publish with equivalent prominence to the same medium a suitable apology and retract the said defamatory words in terms to be agreed by the parties or approved by the Plaintiff and for the same to be archived on Defendants' media space so as to remain searchable to users of the said TV, radio, Facebook, YouTube, and X accounts:

iv. An order directed to the Defendants to ensure the removal of the defamatory videos as well as their re-publication on other media sites from the internet;

v. Costs involved in the prosecution of this suit; and vi. Any other relief(s) that this Honorable Court may deem fit to grant in the circumstances.