Accra: Activist and lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has applauded the court's decision to strike out a defamation suit filed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Ransford Abbey, against the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC.
According to Ghana Web, the suit was dismissed by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul Baasit, who ruled that the case was improperly filed using the legal department of COCOBOD. Barker-Vormawor shared his thoughts on the matter through a post on his X page, expressing that the decision was 'very correct' due to the suit being a personal cause of action rather than an institutional issue.
Barker-Vormawor emphasized that it was inappropriate for a public institution and its resources to be used to address what he described as a personal grievance. He went on to suggest that Dr. Abbey should personally bear the expenses and costs incurred by the institution in pursuing the case.
The defamation suit, initially filed on August 26, 2025, was struck out on January 19, 2026, after the court upheld a preliminary objection regarding the procedural approach to the case. Justice Baasit highlighted that defamation actions are personal and must be initiated in the individual's own name, not through a public body.
Barker-Vormawor also proposed that Dr. Abbey should issue a personal apology for the matter, indicating that this should be done at a commercial rate, reinforcing his stance on the use of public resources for personal legal battles.