NPP’s Ross Owusu takes on Afenyo-Markin

Private legal practitioner and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) legal team, Ross Osei Owusu, has said Alexander Afenyo-Markin should not remain Minority Leader in Parliament if he fails to clear his name over allegations of extortion levelled against him by GoldBod Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi.

According to him, the Minority Leader must take steps to exonerate himself from the allegations, insisting that the matter should be pursued through the courts.

“If he's an extortionist, then we don't want him as a Minority Leader of Parliament,” he said.

Speaking on GHOne TV’s Breakfast Review on October 15, 2026, Osei Owusu acknowledged that the allegations remained unproven but insisted that the Minority Leader needed to take steps to exonerate himself.

“It remains an allegation, but he needs to purge himself of that allegation,” he stated, adding that Afenyo-Markin should be removed as Minority Leader if he failed to clear his name.

Osei Owusu also called on Afenyo-Markin to refile his defamation suit against Gyamfi, arguing that a fresh action should address the defects identified in the original writ and allow the case to proceed to its logical conclusion.

He maintained that the Minority Leader needed to pursue the case and prove that the allegations against him were false.

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

Julius Kwame Anthony, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Deputy Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also backed calls for Afenyo-Markin to lose his position if he failed to exonerate himself.

Anthony said the Minority Leader should not continue leading the NPP's Minority Caucus while the allegations remained unresolved.

“If not, I side with Ross that he should not remain Minority Leader with allegations around his neck as an extortionist,” he indicated.

He also urged Afenyo-Markin to file a fresh defamation suit against Sammy Gyamfi rather than pursue an appeal, arguing that the alleged defects in the original writ needed to be addressed.

Anthony further alleged that concerns about the defects had been raised but not corrected, questioning whether there had been a genuine intention to pursue the case to its conclusion.

The comments came amid discussions about the legal issues surrounding Afenyo-Markin's defamation action against Gyamfi over the extortion allegations, which remain unproven.

MRA/VPO

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