Ibrahim Mahama (L) has sued Bright Simons, demanding GH¢10 million in damages

Two Ghanaians making giant strides in their various fields, namely Ibrahim Mahama and Bright Simons, are currently in a fierce legal battle.

Ibrahim Mahama, a billionaire and Ghanaian business mogul who is known for his philanthropic works, sued Bright Simons, an internationally acclaimed policy analyst, accusing him (Simons) of defamation.

Before the suit, Ibrahim Mahama and his company, Engineers & Planners (E&P), through their lawyers, asked Simons to retract and apologise for his supposed defamatory comments published in an article, but he would not budge.

But what at all is the tussle between two of Ghana’s shining stars about?

The Damang Mine:

At the centre of this legal tangle is the Damang Gold Mine, a mine whose majority shareholder has been Gold Fields Ghana since 2001.

Between 2004 and 2022, Gold Fields contracted Ibrahim Mahama’s company, E&P, to work on the Damang field. E&P was contracted to mine and haul the ore from the Damang Mine to Gold Fields' processing plant.

In 2022, Gold Fields stated that it was halting its operation at the Damang Mine, which means that Ibrahim Mahama’s company would no longer be required to mine and haul the ore for it to process.

In April 2025, the new John Dramani Mahama government, through the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, refused to renew Gold Fields’ mining lease at the Damang Mine after its expiration, stating that the company failed to meet the legal requirements necessary for a lease renewal.

However, after the back and forth on the matter, the government reached an agreement with Gold Fields and renewed its lease for the Damang Mine for 12 months (a year).

Parts of the Damang Mine

What Bright Simons said:

Bright Simons, in the article he wrote, which was before the closure of the renewal of Gold Fields’ mining lease for the Damang Mine, lambasted the government over its actions, including the refusal to renew the lease and its decision to take over the mine.

The piece, titled "Ghana Provides a Lesson in How Not to Nationalise a Gold Mine", was published on Simons' personal website on Saturday, April 19, 2025.

The article discusses Ghana's management of the Damang Gold Mine and includes claims that E&P, described as "a powerful operator owned by the brother of Ghana's President", suffered financially following a temporary shutdown of operations by Gold Fields.

Simons also raised concerns about E&P's alleged influence on the Minerals Commission, suggesting potential conflicts of interest and political interference.

Bright Simons (R) shaking hands with Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II

"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. Furthermore, one of the deputies to the top boss at MinComm is a former employee of E&P. Another top MinComm official is a former executive of Gold Fields, nurturing grudges against the company. It is not clear that MinComm can be trusted to make strategic decisions for the country without very careful scrutiny in light of these tensions and conflicts," Simons wrote.

Ibrahim Mahama’s legal action:

Ibrahim Mahama and E&P, through their lawyers, refuted the claims, which were described in the letter as "wholly false, malicious, and defamatory."

The lawyers warned that the statements could damage E&P's reputation, harm its business prospects, and undermine trust among current and potential partners, and gave him a number of days to apologise and retract his statement or face legal action.

Simons, however, did not apologise, let alone retract the supposed defamatory remarks he made, which led to Ibrahim Mahama and his company slapping him with a defamation suit, demanding GH¢10 million in damages.

They also demanded that the court declare that Bright Simons' comments were defamatory and that a retraction and apology be published.

Ibrahim Mahama

Bright Simons’ reaction to the suit:

An Accra High Court has since given Bright Simons some 8 days to file his defence or face a judgment on the matter in absentia.

The policy analyst, in turn, filed a motion, arguing that he had done nothing wrong and demanded that Ibrahim Mahama and E&P admit to 38 specific facts about the case.

Simons' legal team has given the plaintiffs 14 days to respond to the list of claims, which seek to obtain crucial background information regarding Mahama's financial interests, political exposure, and economic affiliations, particularly in Ghana's mining sector.

These claims cover a wide range of topics, including Ibrahim Mahama's classification as a politically exposed person (PEP) and the detailed financial and contractual arrangements between Engineers & Planners and Abosso Goldfields Limited.

The motion emphasises Ibrahim Mahama's close ties to political power as the brother of former President John Dramani Mahama and asserts that he is the sole shareholder of Engineers & Planners. It also cites a 2013 transaction involving Red Sky Aviation's registration in the Isle of Man, in which offshore law firm Appleby allegedly categorised Mahama as a politically exposed high-risk individual.

BAI/MA