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The High Court in Accra has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Ransford Anertey Abbey, against the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe Abronye.
The decision was delivered on Monday, January 19, 2026, by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul Baasit at the High Court, General Jurisdiction 2, in Accra.
Dr Abbey instituted the suit on August 26, 2025, alleging that Abronye made defamatory statements during broadcasts and publications that damaged his personal reputation. He was seeking personal redress for the alleged defamation.
However, the court ruled that the suit was improperly filed because it was initiated through COCOBOD’s Legal Department, even though the action was brought in Dr Abbey’s personal capacity. COCOBOD was not named as a party to the case.
Lawyers for Abronye had argued that a state institution’s legal department cannot represent an individual in a private legal matter. The court agreed with this position, holding that defamation is a personal tort meant to protect an individual’s reputation, not that of a public institution.
Justice Abdul Baasit stated that since Dr Abbey sued in his personal capacity, he was required to engage a private legal practitioner rather than rely on public institutional legal resources.
As a result, the court declared the writ and statement of claim incompetent and dismissed the suit in its entirety, with no costs awarded against either party.
The case sought GH¢20 million in damages over statements Dr Abbey described as false, malicious, and defamatory.
