Randy Abbey’s Defamation Suit Against Abronye Thrown Out Over Use of COCOBOD Resources
- High Court dismisses Randy Abbey's defamation suit against NPP's Kwame Baffoe Abronye due to improper filing
- Abbey filed the suit claiming GHS 20 million in damages over alleged defamatory statements by Abronye
- Court emphasises that COCOBOD's resources cannot be used for personal legal matters, prompting Abbey to refile
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The High Court in Accra has dismissed a defamation suit filed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Randy Abbey, against the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe Abronye.
The court held that the suit was improperly instituted because it was filed through COCOBOD’s Legal Department, despite being a personal matter.
Source: Facebook
The ruling was delivered on Monday, January 19, 2026. Dr Abbey filed the suit on August 26, 2025, alleging that Abronye had made defamatory broadcasts and publications that harmed his reputation.
Abronye's lawyers argued that a state institution’s legal department could represent an individual in a private legal matter.
Asaase News reported that he has since sued Abronye again.
“The plaintiff, having sued in his personal capacity, ought to procure the services of a private legal practitioner to represent him,” she said.
She added that public institutional legal resources cannot be used for purely personal litigation, rendering the writ and statement of claim incompetent before the court.
Consequently, the High Court dismissed the suit in its entirety and ordered that no costs be awarded against either party.
The suit sought GHS20 million in damages over what Dr Abbey describes as false, malicious, and defamatory statements made by Abronye during a public broadcast.
Abronye's trouble with the law
Baffoe is coming off a year in which he was arrested over offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace.
He was arrested on September 8, 2025, by armed police personnel in Accra.
He was then arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court 9 on September 9, where the judge remanded him in custody and ordered him to return on12 September 2025.
Upon his return on September 12, 2025, the presiding judge denied him bail for the second time, remanding him in police custody for another week. He was eventually granted GH¢50,000 bail on September 15.
During his detention, he reportedly declared a hunger strike in protest.
The NPP youth wing marched in protest of perceived state-sponsored harassment.
Addressing the media after the court hearing, the lead counsel for Baffoe, Daniel Mantey Addo, stated that his client's health condition had deteriorated in jail.
Abronye speaks about time in jail
YEN.com.gh reported that Baffoe opened up about the time he spent in jail, detailing police action against him.
In a broadcast on Ohia TV, the NPP executive claimed that police officers demanded his phone and questioned him about 15 houses and two companies that he owned.
He vowed to still speak up against the government despite the action taken against him.
Source: YEN.com.gh
