High Court throws out Afenyo-Markin’s GH¢15m defamation suit against Sammy Gyamfi

The High Court in Accra has reportedly dismissed the GH¢15 million defamation suit filed by the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, against the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi.

The suit stemmed from comments allegedly made by Gyamfi during an edition of JoyNews’ Newsfile programme, in which he described the Effutu MP as an “extortionist”.

Afenyo-Markin initiated the legal action in August 2026, seeking GH¢15 million in damages over the alleged defamatory remarks. He argued that the comments were false and had the potential to damage his reputation as a lawyer, politician and public figure.

The suit also named Multimedia Group Limited, the parent company of JoyNews, as a defendant, with the Minority Leader seeking a retraction, an unqualified public apology and an injunction against further publication of the alleged defamatory statements.

According to reports gathered by GhanaWeb, the Court, on October 14, 2026, ruled that Afenyo-Markin's writ was "incurably defective, incompetent and incapable of properly invoking the Court’s jurisdiction".

The Court, in reaching its decision, reportedly relied on "Coleman v Newmont" on the applicable procedural rule and "Owusu Domena" on the necessity of raising objections timeously.

GH¢15m Compensation and More: Details of Afenyo-Markin's suit against Sammy Gyamfi, others

The Minority Leader's reliefs, which were thrown out by the Court, are:

a. General damages for libel;

b. Aggravated damages;

c. Exemplary damages;

d. An order directing the defendants to publish a full, unconditional and unequivocal retraction of the defamatory statements;

e. An order directing the defendants to publish a full, unconditional and unequivocal public apology to the plaintiff; and

f. An order directing that the retraction and apology be published and/or broadcast with substantially the same prominence and reach as the original publication;

g. An order directing the defendants to cause the retraction and apology to be broadcast on JoyNews and published on the relevant electronic and social media platforms through which the defamatory publication was disseminated;

h. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, assigns and/or any persons acting under their authority from further publishing the defamatory words or any words to the same or substantially similar effect concerning the plaintiff;

i. Costs of fifteen million Ghana cedis (GH¢15,000,000.00) as compensation thereof;

j. Costs, including legal costs; and

k. Any further or other reliefs as this Honourable Court may deem fit.

See the Afenyo-Markin's write below:

BAI