The High Court, General Jurisdiction 1, has dismissed a GH¢15 million defamation action brought by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo Markin against Ghana Gold Board Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi, after finding that the writ of summons was incurably defective and legally incompetent.
The court held that the defective court process failed to satisfy the procedural requirements necessary to properly invoke its jurisdiction, thereby rendering the action unsustainable in its existing form.
Lawyers for Mr Gyamfi, Seth Anyaaba and Koku Abotsi, said the decision followed their objection that the writ did not comply with the mandatory provisions of Order 57, Rule 2 of the applicable court rules. The provision requires a claimant bringing a defamation action to endorse the allegedly defamatory words on the writ of summons.
Mr Anyaaba explained that the legal team considered the omission a fundamental procedural defect that undermined the validity of the entire action and warranted its dismissal.
“When Afenyo filed his defamation action, we took the view that the writ, which has just been set aside by the court, did not comply with the rules of court, particularly Order 57, Rule 2, which mandatorily requires that you must endorse the alleged defamatory statements of the defendant on the writ,” he explained.
He added that the court accepted the substance of the argument advanced by the defence and consequently set aside the proceedings instituted by the Minority Leader.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, also drew on the legal principles established in Coleman v Newmont concerning the applicable procedural requirements and Owusu Domena regarding the timely raising of objections to court processes.
Mr Anyaaba maintained that the judgment effectively brought the proceedings commenced by Mr Afenyo Markin on August 24, 2026, to an end.
“What it means is that the action which was instituted by Afenyo Markin on 24th August 2026 against Sammy Gyamfi is no more in existence in the sense that it has been set aside and dismissed by the High Court,” he stated.
Mr Abotsi, another member of Mr Gyamfi’s legal team, told MyJoyOnline that the lawyers had decided not to pursue an award of costs against the plaintiff. He explained that having their procedural objection upheld was, in itself, a favourable outcome for their client.
He also acknowledged that the ruling did not necessarily prevent Mr Afenyo Markin from pursuing the matter again, as the Minority Leader retains the right to consider refiling the action in compliance with the applicable legal requirements.
The lawsuit originated from allegations of extortion made against Mr Afenyo Markin amid a dispute involving GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. The Minority Leader announced the legal action in Parliament on August 24, 2026, insisting that the allegations were false and calculated to damage his reputation.
Multimedia Group Limited was also named as a defendant in the suit.
The proceedings subsequently generated disagreement over the service of the court documents. Mr Gyamfi authorised his lawyers at Ayine and Partners to accept the documents on his behalf, while lawyers for Mr Afenyo Markin later maintained that service had been completed and rejected suggestions that their client was avoiding the process.
The latest decision centres on compliance with procedural rules rather than a judicial determination of whether the disputed statements were defamatory. Consequently, the dismissal should not be interpreted as a finding that the allegations were true or false. Any further action would have to be considered in accordance with the applicable law and court procedures.
