TV Presenter Fined Ghc4,200 For Publishing False News
The Kaneshie District Court found a 32-year-old Next TV presenter guilty of publishing fake news based on his own admission of guilt and sentenced him to a fine of Ghc4,200.
After the accused changed his plea from not guilty to guilty, the court presided over by Mrs. Ama Adomako Kwakye (Magistrate) found him guilty.
Nana Osei Bonsu Hoahi and one Akwesi Asare alias Osofo Kwesi were charged for publication of false news against Francis Antwi popularly known as Rev. Obofour in 2020.
While Bonsu initially pleaded not guilty in 2020 and maintained it until Tuesday, August 9, 2022, when he altered his plea, Osofo Kwesi pled guilty and was penalized after initially admitting guilt.
When they were charged, Nana Osei Bonsu Hoahi (A1) denied committing the crime and entered a not guilty plea.
However, Osofo Kwesi, who entered a guilty plea, was found guilty based on his own admission of guilt and given a punishment of 300 penalty units (GHC 3,600.00) in fine and default of six months in jail.
However, on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, in court, just before the start of his two-year trial, Nana Osei Bonsu Hoahi altered his plea from not guilty to guilty.
When the court reexamined his plea on the two counts, he amended it to an admission of guilt.
As a result of his own admission of guilt, Magistrate Ama Adomako Kwakye found him guilty and fined him 250 and 350 penalty units, or GH3,000 and GH4,200, respectively.
The court ruled that the sentences should run concurrently, therefore he will only have to pay the higher of the two fines—GH4200—which is only one.
The court ruled that he would have to face a two-month jail sentence if he missed the payment deadline.
Chief Inspector Amoah Richard, the prosecutor, requested that the court issue an order for the convict to retract the false statements he made about Rev. Obofour on Next TV and to publish them in the Ghanaian Daily Graphic.
