By Talibeh Hydara
President Adama Barrow has demanded a retraction and an apology from The Voice newspaper over a story it published on Monday, quoting its sources that the president has picked businessman Muhammed Jah as his successor.
Th story attracted a swift reaction from the National People’s Party, with its admin secretary Seedy Ceesay describing it as false.
Yesterday, a letter addressed to the newspaper from the president’s lawyers, Ida D Drameh & Associates, described the story as libelous and therefore demanded a reaction, threatening a legal action if it fails to.
The letter states, in part: “These claims are completely outrageous and untrue.
The natural and ordinary meaning of these words and of the placing of the photograph immediately under the said words, which are highly defamatory of our client, is that:
(a) Our client is no longer interested in being President of The Gambia;
(b) That he does not intend to be flag bearer of the NPP in the 2026 elections;
(c) That his party, NPP, cannot rely on what he tells them;
(d) That he is not a man of his word and cannot be trusted;
(e) That he has chosen Muhammed Jah as his successor;
(f) That he has handed over keys to his position to him;
(g) That there was a ceremony where this hand over took place;
(h) That NPP are unhappy with his decision.
Every such imputation is entirely false. In particular, at no time did our client ever have any such conversations or choose Muhammed Jah as his successor. He did not also at anytime indicate that he is no longer interested in being President of The Gambia.
A further article in the newspaper of Tuesday the 24th day of September 2024 summarised the libelous allegations above in a discussion of a trip of Mr Jah and at future trip, in a manner that insinuates that it is part of the plan for succession between Mr Jah and our client, and in order to create some veneer of validity to these unsubstantiated claims made by your paper.
Unsurprisingly, our client’s reputation has been substantially harmed by the publication of such defamatory allegations, the nature of which are deeply distressing and embarrassing for him. As a consequence, our client requires you to take the following steps as a matter of urgency and within 24 hours of the date of this letter:
1. to publish in the next issue of your newspaper a full and complete retraction and apology, in terms to be approved by us on our client’s behalf, on the front page of the newspapers in a position similar to that occupied by the article complained of;
2. to make a full retraction and apology in a statement in open court;
3. to indemnify our client in respect of the costs which he has or will have incurred in this matter;
4. to pay to our client damages for the injury to his reputation and for the embarrassment and distress caused to him.
If the defamatory article is not permanently removed and the above undertakings are not complied with within the next 24 hours of the date of this letter, we will take the necessary steps to institute legal proceedings without any further correspondence. Should it become necessary to institute legal action, our client will also be claiming from you, all legal fees involved in bringing this libel action, and any other costs that might be incurred in this regard.”
