By Ousman Saidykhan
Environment Minister Rohey John Manjang’s 50 million dalasis civil suit against The Alkamba Times chief national/ Investigative correspondent Kebba Ansu Manneh will continue tomorrow at the High Court Annex in the Banjul Magistrate Court Complex.
The case was initially presented in court on November 12, 2024. During this hearing, Justice Sonia Akinbiyi encouraged both parties to negotiate a resolution outside of court or to pursue a settlement through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Secretariat before the next adjournment scheduled for December 12 (tomorrow).
The plaintiff, Rohey John Manjang, claims Kebba Ansu Manneh wrote an article that contained “malicious and unfounded allegations” about her. She is seeking the court to order the defendant to write and publish an “unreserved apology” on the TAT website and other platforms where the article was published, in addition to a 50-million-dalasi compensation.
Minister Manjang is also asking the court to order the defendant to remove from social media platforms all statements about the plaintiff’s alleged defamation and to grant a perpetual injunction to restrain the defendant from making any further defamatory statement against her, indirectly or through his agents, associates, and contacts.
However, both TAT and its Senior Investigative Reporter stand by the published article and vow not to retract nor apologize to the Minister of Environment, Rohey John Manjang.
During the last proceedings, TAT was represented by Lawyer Junkung Jobarteh, while Counsel Modou Drammeh represented the Minister.
The case resumes by 9:30 a.m. at the High Court Annex at the Banjul Magistrate Court Complex.
