Makola Market Woman Sues Telecel for GH¢2 Million for Using Her Image Without Permission

• An onion seller operating at Makola Market in Accra has initiated a GH¢2 million lawsuit against Telecel
• The trader, Faustina Djagbele Abbey, said Telecel did not seek her consent and used her image without her knowledge
• She also wants billboards, social media, and traditional media advertisements of her image to be pulled down

An onion seller in Makola, Faustina Djagbele Abbey, has sued Telecel for GH¢2 million as compensation for breaches of her privacy after using her image for marketing purposes.

She contends that the failure of Telecel to seek her consent and use her image without her knowledge to project, market and advertise the 'Telecel Red Save' Product on numerous platforms, including social media, amounts to an abuse of her image rights.

The Law Platform noted that Bernard Owiredu Donkor of Thompson Law Consult is representing Abbey.

She wants billboards, social media, and traditional media advertisements of the ‘Telecel red save' to be pulled down.

In her statement of claim, Abbey argued that the use of her image by Telecel in their product marketing drive was brought to her attention by some of her customers.

She also said that the advertisement has brought her some publicity, with family members deeming her to be of financial means.

This, she says, has strained relationships with others and impacted her mental health.

In Ghana, Article 18 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to privacy of citizens. It provides that "no person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except by law and as may be necessary in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others."

Telecel Ghana is a major player in the country's telecommunications landscape with a reported 17.2% market share in voice and data as of July 2024.

CAF yet to pay $250k after losing copyright case

Music producer Kwabena Ofei-Kwadey Nkrumah said he is yet to be settled by CAF after winning his intellectual property rights case against the football governing body.

Nkrumah told YEN.com.gh that CAF has not offered any explanations for the delay in adhering to a court order.

A commercial court in Accra found it guilty of failing to obtain legal permission before using Nkrumah's music in promos for the 2018 CAF awards.

He was awarded damages of Ghana cedi equivalent of $250,000 and legal costs of GH¢40,000 against CAF in July 2024.

In response to these delays, Nkrumah said he was 'proceeding with the criminal case' against the football governing body.

Google agrees to settle $5 bn privacy lawsuit

YEN.com.gh reported that Google agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked the data of users who thought they were browsing privately.

In a court filing, the judge confirmed that lawyers for Google reached a preliminary agreement to settle the class action lawsuit, filed in 2020, which claimed that "millions of individuals" had likely been affected.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh