A defamation lawsuit brought by Dr. Ransford Anertey Abbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), against Kwame Baffoe Abronye, the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was dismissed by the Accra High Court.
Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul Baasit gave the decision on Monday, January 19, 2026, at the High Court, General Jurisdiction 2, in Accra.
On August 26, 2025, Dr. Abbey filed the lawsuit, claiming that Mr. Abronye’s writings and broadcasts damaged his reputation. Personal compensation for the claimed slander was sought in the action.
Even though the lawsuit was filed in Dr. Abbey’s individual capacity, the court determined that it was illegally instituted because it was filed through COCOBOD’s Legal Department.
The lawsuit does not name COCOBOD as a party.
The court upheld Mr. Abronye’s attorney’s argument that the legal department of a public entity cannot represent an individual in a private legal dispute. Defamation, according to Justice Abdul Baasit, is a personal tort intended to safeguard an individual’s reputation rather than that of a public organisation.
“The plaintiff, having sued in his personal capacity, ought to procure the services of a private legal practitioner to represent him,” she stated.
She emphasised that public institutional legal resources cannot be employed for solely personal action, rendering the writ and statement of claim ineffective in court.
As a result, the High Court dismissed the entire complaint and ordered no costs against either side.
The action claimed GHS 20 million in damages for what Dr Abbey described as Abronye’s false, malicious, and defamatory allegations made during a public broadcast.
Court Writ Below:
Source: newsthemegh.com