Hugh Clement A. Brown, the acting Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Forestry Commission, has filed a defamation suit against Kwame Baffoe widely known as Abronye DC, a prominent opposition figure and Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, seeking GH¢20 million in damages.
The suit, filed at the High Court in Accra follows allegations made by Baffoe in a broadcast aired online on July 10, 2025.
Baffoe accused Brown of forging official documents and unlawfully authorising the sale of portions of Ghana’s forest reserves while falsely backdating letters to implicate the previous administration.
In his statement of claim, Brown contends that the assertions made on OHIA TV’s programme – ‘The Evidence’ by Baffoe were not only false but calculated to damage his hard-earned reputation, both locally and internationally.
He is demanding GH¢15 million in general damages for libel, GH¢5 million in exemplary damages, and a series of public apologies and retractions to be broadcast and published across major television networks and newspapers. “The statements were made maliciously and without any factual basis,” Mr. Brown’s legal team wrote, adding that the televised accusations implied that their client is “an embezzler, a dishonest and fraudulent person, and a thief.”
Mr. Brown, a trained forester with a PhD in Tropical Forest Ecology, has worked at the Commission since 1993 and has held senior roles including Director of Operations and Executive Director of the Forest Services Division. He was appointed acting Chief Executive in January 2025.
Credit: graphiconline