Former minister of Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has described Majority Chief Whip, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor as a notorious Peddler of fake news as regards some malicious allegations the NDC MP made against him on TV3’s Key Point Program
He has thus demanded a retraction and apology from the reckless NDC MP and warned him to refrain from repeating same in future to save him from legal suit.
READ FULL STATEMENT
GODFRED YEBOAH DAME
25th February, 2025
Mr. Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor (MP), Parliament of Ghana, Accra.
Dear Sir,
RE: FALSE ALLEGATIONS MADE BY YOUR GOOD SELF ON TV3
My attention has been drawn to statements made by you of and concerning my person on Saturday, 22nd February, 2025 on a programme dubbed “THE KEY POINTS” on TV3, an Accra-based television station. In utter disregard for the truth, my reputation and rights, you published the following words: “You don’t have an Attorney-General riding around with fifteen military men front and back in a bullet proof vehicle … I also referenced the immediate past Attorney-General. Even as a Deputy Attomey General, I encountered him in court … you see we are placing this matter in a certain context, the pressure it places on the public purse … how the public officers have been encouraged to live frugally, to live modestly, to show that we are here to serve the people … and I cited the A-G’s example … because the A-G, I have encountered him in court in 2017/2018 as a DAG when his colleague was Kpemka Dindiork, when he entered court I saw the fanfare with which he came, I saw the number of military men who sat in his vehicle and sometimes in another vehicle … ” 1 You were interrupted by the host, Alfred Ocansey, who reminded you that you had earlier alleged in relation to me “And you are saying fifteen and Alexander Afenyo Markin says that is not the case.” Undeterred, you continued to publish the following about me: “As DAG, he had a military escort … When he was appointed into the substantive office … , when he got confirmed as Attorney-General}, the numbers increased … if you have two Land Cruisers fully occupied by soldiers front and back, how many would they be?” In support of your false assertions, a panelist on the programme added: “And in your [referring to my good self-] own car too, you have one.” Q DAME & PARTNERS UNLIMITED, P.O.BOX CT 1476, SSA KAKRAMADU LINK, 1 ·CANTONMENTS, ACCRA. Ordinarily, I would have treated the words published by you with the contempt they deserve since you and functionaries of your political party have gained distinct notoriety for constantly peddling falsehoods about my person, with TV3 being a regular forum for such sinister activity. However, the imputation of extravagance, improvidence and recklessness conveyed by your statements compels me to write this to you and expose the falsity of the statements you made to the public. The false words published by you were circulated widely on the internet and on many traditional and social media platforms. For the record, a t no point in time in my eight-year public service, between 2017 and 2025, did I have more than one bodyguard. At no point in time did I have more than one bodyguard sitting in a vehicle I u sed. At no point in time did I have a Land cruiser or any other brand of vehicle following me with bodyguards. I never had a military convoy. As a Deputy Attorney-General, I was assigned one bodyguard following an assessment of the security risks around me. Following my appointment as the substantive Attorney General and Minister for Justice on 5th March, 202 1, I continued with the same [one) bodyguard to the end of my tenure on 6th January, 2025. I had the benefit of one police dispatch rider who was assigned to the Office during the era of my predecessor, Ms. Gloria Akuffo. I am aware that the current Attorney-General also uses a police dispatch rider. There was never a deployment of more than one security officer for my close body protection nor an assignment of military men in 2 Land Cruisers, front and back , as you put it. The allegations by you are clearly a product of your fertile imagination and highlight your skill at fabricating facts, a tendency most unworthy of a leader of the Majority in Parliament. Given the context in which you indicated that you were making your malicious statements of and concerning me, i.e. to show “the pressure it [lifestyle of public officers] places on the public purse’, it is pertinent to indicate that throughout my public service, I stayed in one of my private properties which I I acquired long before my initial appointment as Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice.
For your information, I never made a claim for payment of any money by the State in lieu of the provision of residential accommodation. Further, I never used any government vehicle for my official functions during the week in Accra. All vehicles used by me in Accra for my official functions were privately-owned. The only time I used a government vehicle to attend to my official work was when I had to travel out of Accra, which was rare. I require you to undertake a total retraction of the falsehoods contained in your publication as shown above, via the same medium -THE KEYPOINTS on TV3 – on which you made them. I hereby serve you notice that a future publication of the same or similar falsehoods by your good self will result in an institution of legal proceedings for punitive damages for defamation together with costs of litigation.
I have taken the liberty to copy the Speaker of Parliament and the leadership of the House of Parliament in this letter to advert his attention to the dishonorable conduct engaged in by your good self-outside the House of Parliament.
Cc: 1. the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Parliament of Ghana, Accra.
- The Hon. Majority Leader, Parliament of Ghana, Accra.
- The Hon. Minority Leader, Parliament of Ghana, Accra.
- The General Manager, TV3, Accra. 5. All Media Houses.
Yours faithfully, GODFRED YEBOAH Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice
(5th March 2021 – 6th January2025
