A High Court in Accra has issued an order for substituted service in a case filed by the McDan Group of Companies against journalist David Tamakloe for defamation.
In December 2024, an article on The New Republic website claimed that a McDan Aviation aircraft had been seized in the UK due to unpaid debts. The company strongly disputes this claim as damaging and untrue. The lawsuit was then published in the Daily Graphic’s May 22, 2025, edition.
The court allowed alternative means after traditional methods of serving legal documents to Tamakloe proved futile.
By printing a notice in a national newspaper, delivering the documents via the defendant’s mobile number, and posting copies at the Law Courts Complex in Accra for ten days, the plaintiff is allowed to deliver the writ and statement of claim, according to the court’s ruling.
The McDan Group, a local conglomerate with interests in aviation, logistics, and mining, argues that Tamakloe’s article was published without proper verification, causing severe reputational and financial harm.
The company, which leads the charitable McDan Foundation and has won numerous industry accolades, contends that the untrue statements have damaged investor confidence and exposed the business to public mockery.
A court ruling that the piece was defamatory, a retraction as prominent as the original publication, a formal apology in a national daily and on social media, and general damages of GH₵10 million are being sought by McDan in its complaint.
