Bright Simons, the vice president in charge of research at the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, is the target of a defamation lawsuit brought by Ibrahim Mahama, the brother of Ghana’s president and chief executive officer of Engineers and Planners (E&P).
Mr. Mahama accuses Mr. Simons of publishing false and defamatory statements in an article titled “Ghana Provides a Lesson in How Not to Nationalise a Gold Mine” that appeared on Mr. Simons’ personal website, brightsimons.com, in a lawsuit dated May 28 that was seen by Pulse News.
Following the government’s decision to take operational control of the Damang Mine, a concession owned by Abosso Goldfields Limited, a division of Gold Fields Limited, the article was published on April 19, 2025.
”The main mining contractor at Damang is E&P, a powerful operator owned by the brother of Ghana’s President, which is reportedly trying to raise billions of dollars to buy ‘marginal’ mines like Damang. Everybody in the industry is fully aware that E&P has been hit very hard by Gold Fields’ decision to temporarily halt active mining since it gets paid only when it delivers fresh ore”.
”In fact, E&P’s own creditors have been up in arms. The concern is that should the President’s brother’s interests rather than commercial considerations start to drive decision-making at Damang, now under government control, the country would need to brace for heavy commercial losses”.
Mr. Ibrahim Mahama claims that Mr. Simons’s accusations are malicious, untrue, and have seriously harmed both his company’s (Engineers and Planners) and his own reputations.
Therefore, Mr. Mahama is requesting the following reliefs:
a declaration that Bright Simons’ remarks are defamatory;
a three-month period of six consecutive editions of the Daily Graphic featuring a full-page ad and a public apology and retraction, to be posted on the same digital platforms;
a permanent injunction prohibiting Mr. Simons from uttering any more disparaging remarks;
The total damages are GH¢ 10 million.
legal fees as well as any additional remedies the court decides are necessary.