Lawyers for Minority Leader, Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin have vowed to pursue his GH¢15 million defamation case against the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi to its logical conclusion following a High Court decision to set aside the writ of summons and statement of claim.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, Dehyena Chambers, the law firm representing Afenyo-Markin, said it had received full instructions from its client to continue pursuing the matter.
The High Court, General Jurisdiction 1, presided over by Justice Akwasi Adjenim Boateng, set aside the processes filed on August 24, 2026, after finding that the writ did not sufficiently particularise the alleged defamatory publication, as required under the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C.I. 47).
The firm said it was awaiting a copy of the court’s ruling to determine the appropriate next course of action.
“As of 4:00 p.m., the Court Registry had not made a copy of the ruling available to us. We therefore await with bated breath for the ruling of the Court to determine the next cause of action as instructed,” the statement, signed by solicitor F. Paa Kwesi Abaidoo, said.
The lawyers also questioned Gyamfi’s resort to procedural objections rather than filing a defence, arguing that he had previously made categorical allegations against Afenyo-Markin, claimed to have evidence to substantiate them and challenged him to sue.
“We find it curiously troubling that Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, who made categorical allegations against Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, and publicly claimed to have evidence to substantiate them, and further challenged Osahen to sue, has chosen the path of procedural road blocks rather than file a defence,” the statement said.
The legal dispute arose in August 2026 amid a public disagreement over the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme and concerns about its financial performance.
Afenyo-Markin, who had raised questions about the programme’s reported losses, subsequently sued Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), over remarks made during a JoyNews Newsfile broadcast on August 22, 2026.
During the broadcast, Gyamfi reportedly described the Minority Leader as an “extortionist”. Afenyo-Markin maintained that the allegation was false and damaging to his reputation.
The suit, filed on August 24, 2026, sought GH¢15 million in general damages, an unqualified public apology and retraction of the alleged defamatory statements, as well as a permanent injunction against further publication of the allegations. Multimedia Group Limited, the parent company of JoyNews, was also named as a defendant.
Gyamfi’s lawyers challenged the competence of the action, arguing that the writ of summons did not comply with Order 57, rule 2 of C.I. 47, which requires a writ in a libel action to contain sufficient particulars of the alleged defamatory publication to identify it.
The court upheld the objection, finding that the particulars contained in the statement of claim did not cure the omission in the writ under the circumstances of the case. It distinguished the circumstances from previous judicial authorities in which defects in a writ had been cured by particulars contained in a statement of claim.
In their response, Dehyena Chambers argued that procedural irregularities could be remedied under Ghanaian civil procedure, citing Supreme Court authorities and Order 81 of C.I. 47.
The lawyers maintained that the administration of justice should prioritise the substance of a case over procedural technicalities, invoking the principle that “Justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of technicalities.”
They said the court’s decision would not discourage them from pursuing the case.
“We will not be deterred by procedural setbacks. The Mills of Justice grind slowly, but with great surety,” the statement added.
