Published: May 5, 2025
MONROVIA — A Liberian civil law court has ordered twin brothers Hassan and Hussein Fadiga to pay US$1.6 million in damages to former Deputy Director-General of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Abraham K. Kromah, over false and defamatory statements they made linking him to an alleged drug dealer.
Judge George W. Smith of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court, handed down the ruling Monday, finding the Fadiga brothers jointly and severally liable for libel and slander. The court awarded Kromah US$1.5 million in general damages and US$100,000 in punitive damages, but denied his request for US$2 million in special damages due to lack of documentary proof.
Kromah, a prominent security consultant and former senior head the Liberia Drug Enfrocement Agency (LDEA), filed the lawsuit on February 6, alleging that the Fadigas orchestrated a smear campaign portraying him as being in cahoots with a convicted drug dealer known as “Japan.”
According to court records, Hassan Fadiga, then a deputy at the LDEA, and his brother Hussein Fadiga, a Spoon Talk Show host and self-styled social commentator, claimed publicly that Kromah had ransacked Japan’s home and stolen US$200,000, visited him secretly at the Monrovia Central Prison, and had close ties with drug traffickers.
These allegations, Kromah testified, caused him reputational harm, loss of security contracts including a US$2 million deal, and emotional distress.
“The defendants knowingly and consciously fabricated these lies with the intent to bring me and my family into public disrepute,” Kromah said during his testimony. “Their accusations have damaged my career, my business, and my health.”
The court found that the statements made by the defendants were false, defamatory, and made with actual malice — a legal threshold required for public figures in libel cases, following precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan.
Supporting Kromah’s claims was his witness, Adolphus Terra Quai, a former LDEA agent, who testified that he heard Hussein Fadiga discussing the allegations on radio and displaying a letter written by Hassan Fadiga to the Ministry of Justice. The witness confirmed that the media campaign against Kromah was widespread and deliberate.
The court said Kromah met the burden of proof for general and punitive damages but failed to provide specific evidence for the claimed US$2 million contract loss.
“Public officials and public figures are held to a higher legal standard in libel cases,” Judge Smith noted. “But where actual malice is proven, as in this case, the law supports recovery of damages.”
Despite their absence in court, the defendants, according to bailiff testimony, rejected attempts at service and insulted court officers. The court entered a default judgment after multiple failed attempts to compel their appearance.
Following the verdict, court-appointed counsel Cllr. Ambrose Nmah announced an appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of the respondents.
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