COCOBOD CEO refiles defamation suit against Bono Regional NPP Chairman

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Randy Abbey, has refiled his GHC20 million defamation suit against the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, also known as Abronye, this time around using a private legal practitioner.

This was after the Accra High Court earlier dismissed the writ as “procedurally defective” because it was filed by the Legal Department of COCOBOD, instead of a private legal practitioner.

In the new writ issued by his lawyer, Alex Owoo, the plaintiff accused Abronye of tarnishing his reputation after making comments on the radio to the effect that he visits cocoa farms and meets with cocoa farmers in his own chair, having been driven from Accra.

Again, he averred in his writ that Abronye, on the same radio platform, accused him (plaintiff) of replacing the Director of Finance at COCOBOD with the intention to “steal COCOBOD money to the detriment of cocoa farmers.”

Damage

Dr Abbey refuted the assertions by Abronye, describing the statements by the politician as a calculated attempt to cause injury to his reputation and reduce his standing in the eyes of the public.

“The defendant made the defamatory statements with a clear and deliberate intent to harm the plaintiff's personal and professional reputation, knowing that such statements would cause substantial damage to the plaintiff's standing in society, particularly as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board.

Apart from the damages, the COCOBOD CEO is also seeking an order from the court directed at Abronye for an unconditional retraction, unqualified apology and complete removal of the defamatory publication to be published within 14 days from the date of judgment.

Also, the plaintiff is seeking a perpetual injunction restraining Abronye or anyone acting on his behalf from publishing defamatory words against him.