Court dismisses Randy Abbey’s defamation case against Abronye
In a ruling delivered on Monday, 19 January 2026, the court, presided over by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul Baasit, held that the writ was fatally flawed because it was issued through COCOBOD’s Legal Department.
An Accra High Court has dismissed a defamation suit filed by COCOBOD chief executive Randy Abbey against the Bono Regional NPP chairman Kwame Baffoe, known as Abronye, after finding that the action was improperly initiated.
In a ruling delivered on Monday, 19 January 2026, the court, presided over by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul Baasit, held that the writ was fatally flawed because it was issued through COCOBOD’s Legal Department, with the Director of Legal listed as counsel for Mr Abbey.
The judge said the case was brought in Mr Abbey’s personal capacity and defamation is a personal claim directed at an individual. Since COCOBOD was not a party to the suit, the court found it inappropriate for the organisation’s legal unit to originate the writ or conduct the case.
The court concluded that Mr Abbey should have engaged private legal representation for a personal defamation action, and on that basis dismissed the writ and statement of claim as “procedurally defective”.
Following the decision, Mr Abbey re-filed the lawsuit, this time using a private legal practitioner to issue the writ.
Mr Abbey first sued Abronye in August 2025, seeking GH¢20 million in damages. He accused the politician of making remarks on radio that he says harmed his reputation, including comments suggesting he visits cocoa farms and meets farmers while travelling from Accra with his own chair.
