Sunyani MCE sues assembly member for GH¢900,000 over Facebook posts
In a writ filed at the Sunyani High Court on 16 December 2025, Mr Antwi-Agyei is seeking GH¢900,000 in damages, a retraction, an apology and an order restraining further publications.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Sunyani, Vincent Antwi-Agyei, has taken legal action against the Assembly Member for the Newtown Abonsuam Electoral Area, Raphael Cubagee, accusing him of mounting a calculated defamation campaign on Facebook.
In a writ filed at the Sunyani High Court on 16 December 2025, Mr Antwi-Agyei is seeking GH¢900,000 in damages, a retraction, an apology and an order restraining further publications. The suit was filed by his lawyer, Alexander Amponsah of Adom Legal Consult.
According to a 39-paragraph statement of claim, the MCE alleges that Mr Cubagee made a series of posts in October 2025 which he says falsely linked him to corruption, lawlessness and theft of public funds. The posts, dated 4, 13, 14 and 28 October, are said to have been clearly directed at him and widely circulated on social media.
One of the posts cited in the suit allegedly claimed that the MCE and a board member of the Sunyani Teaching Hospital had instructed staff of the Sunyani Municipal Assembly to disregard a court order, only to later rely on the same court for justice. Mr Antwi-Agyei says the accusation is untrue and was intended to portray him as a public official who holds the judiciary in contempt.
In another post, on 13 October, Mr Cubagee is said to have urged the public to demonstrate on 24 October 2025 to demand the MCE’s removal from office, accusing him of “stealing” from the people and covering up wrongdoing.
A further publication on 14 October, the MCE claims, called on President John Dramani Mahama to sack him, alleging that he had worked with a member of the governing board of the Sunyani Teaching Hospital to siphon nearly GH¢39 million from the Assembly through kickbacks.
Mr Antwi-Agyei denies knowledge of any such sum or involvement in any kickback scheme, describing the allegation as reckless and grossly defamatory.
The statement of claim also refers to a post in which the cost of painting a single bungalow was pegged at GH¢550,000 and described as “stealing at its highest point”, with a suggestion that the MCE should be reported to the Office of the Special Prosecutor. The plaintiff says he has never supervised or authorised such a project and has never dealt with the persons mentioned in connection with it.
Taken together, the MCE argues, the posts depict him as dishonest, greedy and unfit to hold public office, and have damaged public confidence in him as the President’s representative in the Sunyani Municipality. He says the publications have led to queries from the Chief of Staff and the Bono Regional Minister and have provided ammunition to political opponents who have amplified the claims.
Mr Antwi-Agyei maintains that the harm to his reputation and future political ambitions is “severe and irreversible” and says he will invite the court, during the trial, to admit the impugned Facebook posts in evidence as proof of malice.
He is asking the High Court to:
Award general, punitive and exemplary damages totalling GH¢900,000;
Order Mr Cubagee to delete the posts and publish an unqualified apology on Facebook with the same visibility as the original publications; and
Grant a perpetual injunction restraining the assembly member, his agents or assigns from making further defamatory statements about him.
