Legal practitioner, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has indicated that he will seek to set aside the High Court's judgment ordering him to pay GH₵5.1 million to former National Security Minister Albert Kan Dapaah, describing the process that led to the ruling as unfair.

In a Facebook post reacting to the March 2 ruling, the activist outlined what he described as procedural irregularities in the handling of his case. He claimed his legal team was not allowed to complete cross-examination of Kan Dapaah and that his witness statement was filed but refused consideration by the court before judgment was delivered.

"Of course we will seek to set it aside. But he can take his victory lap," Barker-Vormawor wrote.

Background of the Case

The High Court in Accra on Monday awarded general damages of GHC5 million against Barker-Vormawor in favour of Kan Dapaah for defamation. The court also imposed costs of GHC100,000 against the defendant.

• Read also: Court slaps Barker-Vormawor with GH₵5m in favour of Kan Dapaah for defamation

Delivering judgment, Justice (Rev.) Joseph Owusu Adu-Agyeman granted all reliefs sought by the plaintiff, except that he reduced the compensation claim from GHC10 million to GHC5 million.

The former National Security Minister had sued Barker-Vormawor over an alleged bribery allegation. The activist had claimed that Kan Dapaah and some government officials met him and offered him money to stop his activism against the government.

Prior to the judgment, lawyers for Barker-Vormawor moved an application seeking the relistment of their Statement of Defence and Witness Statement, which had earlier been struck out. However, the court dismissed the application, describing it as alien to the rules.

This left Barker-Vormawor without a valid defence before the court at the time of judgment.

In his Facebook post, the activist detailed events leading to this point. He explained that after his initial lawyer was appointed Deputy Attorney General, he requested and was granted an adjournment to appoint new counsel.

When the new lawyer took over and sought time to study proceedings and file a witness statement, the judge refused and ordered cross-examination to continue.

"He missed Court one day, and when we got the record, the judge had struck out my defense and given a date to give judgement," Barker-Vormawor wrote.

"We filed a motion to relist the defense and filed my witness statement and that of my other witness. We also filed a motion to arrest judgment. Judge refused it. Went ahead to give Kan Dapaah judgment."

The activist also threw a challenge to the public, inviting them to read his witness statement, which he claims the court refused to consider.

"You can read my witness statement; that the court refused to consider if you want!" he wrote.