Mr. Richard Kwadwo Owusu Nyarko, a self-proclaimed medical practitioner, was ordered to pay six members of the Kumasi Club GH600,000 in legal fees after his defamation complaint was dismissed by the Kumasi High Court.
The plaintiff, who was seeking GH5 million in damages from the defendants for defamation, was ordered to pay GH100,000 to each of the six trustees of the club, Kwabena Brenya, Norman Owusu Barnie, Henry Asumadu, Kofi Owusu Ansah, Andy Arhin, and Kojo Sarpong.
In the lawsuit filed on May 26, 2020, he was seeking a declaration from the court, presided over by Justice George Krofa Addae, that the defendants had defamed him and damaged his reputation as a medical practitioner. He was asking GH5 million in damages.
During the trial, it was revealed that Richard Kwadwo Owusu Nyarko had misled the members of the Kumasi Club by pretending to be a Senior Medical Officer at the Patasi South Hospital, among other positions.
According to the plaintiff, he was a registered licensed senior health practitioner, a member of the European Health Association, a medical student at the Accra College of Medicine, and the current chairman of the Kumasi Club, among other credentials. He also held a bachelor’s degree and dual master’s degrees.
According to the plaintiff, he obtained a training certificate in occupational health from the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and enrolled in a part-time doctoral degree (PhD) in health care program at the Ghana Technology College.
According to him, he is also a recognized health researcher who has published numerous scholarly and professional journals locally, nationally, and worldwide.
However, the defendants contended they were entitled in labeling the plaintiff a phony medical doctor on the basis that he misrepresented himself in his 2012 membership application to the Kumasi Club.
After becoming chairman of the club, the plaintiff, according to the defendants, made arrogant statements about his skills as a medical doctor and prepared letters to change the signatories on the club’s financial accounts.
The defendants claimed that they were skeptical of the plaintiff’s credentials as a medical doctor due to his repeated references to it and his description of himself as the Director of Health Services at Family Tree Medical Centre.
Source: ModernGhana