Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale, otherwise known as Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jnr, has made a plea for an out-of-court settlement in a GH¢10 million defamatory suit brought against him by an event organizing company, Charter House.
Charter House and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Iyiola Ayoade, dragged Shatta Wale to court on October 2, 2014 for defamation.
Further to that, counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, filed a motion for an interlocutory injunction that prayed the court to restrain the defendant from further uploading and or making defamatory comments about his client.
At the Fast Track High Court’s hearing in Accra yesterday, counsel for the musician announced to the court that his client would prefer an out-of-court settlement, but Mr Faibille opposed the move, on the grounds that the defendant had not shown any sign of remorse to warrant the settlement.
Opposition to the out-of-court settlement
Admitting that the defence team had last Friday written a letter asking for an out-of-court settlement, Mr Faibille argued that Shatta Wale had, after the institution of the suit against him, gone ahead to cause the publication of more defamatory materials on his Facebook page.
That attitude, according to counsel, was a clear indication that the defendant had not repented in any way.
Shatta Wale’s new video sought to portray that the plaintiffs filed the suit because they were cash-strapped.
Restraining order
Following counsel’s submissions, the court, presided over by Ms Naa Adoley Azu, granted Mr Faibille’s motion for interlocutory injunction and subsequently restrained Shatta Wale and his agents from further publishing defamatory materials about the plaintiffs.
