Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, took to X formerly Twitter to announce that the High Court in Accra had struck out the National Service Authority’s (NSA) injunction application, paving the way for the publication of an investigative report by The Fourth Estate. Braimah’s post read, “NSS Scandal: Court Strikes Out Injunction Application and Fines them GH₵6,000. This paves the way for us to serve you with the story.”
On December 19, 2024, the court dismissed the NSA’s bid to block the release of the report, which was scheduled to cover acts of corruption within the agency. Lawyers for the MFWA, led by Mr. Samson Anyenini, appeared in court to challenge the application, calling it frivolous and an abuse of court process. However, before they could fully present their defense, the NSA’s legal team from Sam Okudzeto and Associates withdrew the case, notifying the court of a notice of discontinuance.
MFWA’s legal team argued that the NSA had no legal standing to file the case and described the application as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), intended solely to delay the publication of the story.
In response, the court struck out the case, awarding costs of GH₵6,000 in favor of the MFWA. The court further ruled that the NSA could not refile the case, clearing the way for the investigative story to be published as originally planned.
The legal dispute began on December 2, 2024, when the NSA sought a 10-day ex-parte injunction, trying to prevent The Fourth Estate from publishing the stories. With the court’s ruling now in favor of the MFWA, the publication of the report is set to proceed.
NSS Scandal: Court Strikes Out Injunction Application and Fines them GH₵6,000. This paves the way for us to serve you with the story. https://t.co/9g6TQHXXZO
— Sulemana Braimah (@sulemana) December 19, 2024
