Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has hauled GoldBod Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi before the courts in a fierce defamation battle that has electrified Ghana’s political landscape, following Gyamfi’s branding of the Effutu legislator as an extortionist. The writs, filed at the peak of a rancorous public spat over alleged fiscal haemorrhage under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, mark a dramatic escalation in a confrontation that has gripped Parliament.
The dispute crystallised after the Minority Leader mounted sustained parliamentary scrutiny over a reported one point seven billion United States dollars loss recorded by the Bank of Ghana in twenty twenty five under the gold purchase framework, demanding forensic accountability from the Ghana Gold Board. In a riposte that inflamed tensions, Gyamfi publicly characterised the Minority Leader’s interrogation as extortion, a remark Afenyo-Markin contends is libellous and calculated to injure his reputation.
Afenyo-Markin announced the initiation of legal proceedings upon Parliament’s reconvening on Monday, confirming two separate actions at different jurisdictions. The suits are docketed as Suit Number GT/1029/2026, titled Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin versus Samuel Adu Gyamfi and Multimedia Group Limited at the Accra High Court, and Suit Number GT/AC/CC/02/2026, titled Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin versus Eric Adjei and Peace FM at the Achimota Circuit Court, encompassing both the principal defendant and allied media platforms that disseminated the impugned publication.
Speaking on the floor, the Minority Leader asserted confidence in the judiciary’s capacity to adjudicate the matter on its merits, stating he has every confidence that in the fullness of time the court will make the appropriate determination. Gyamfi, who has hitherto repudiated suggestions that GoldBod precipitated the Bank of Ghana’s reported deficit, has indicated his readiness to defend his commentary and substantiate his averments when the matter proceeds to trial.
The litigation emerges against a backdrop of intensifying legislative oversight of Ghana’s gold-for-reserves architecture, a cornerstone policy designed to shore up foreign exchange stability but now embroiled in controversy over cost overruns and opaque accounting. The GoldBod leadership maintains that the cited losses are attributable to central bank operations rather than its own stewardship, while the Minority Caucus insists on granular disclosure regarding procurement pricing, offtake agreements and reconciliation of bullion flows.
With both camps entrenched and allied media houses joined as co-defendants, the case is poised to test the boundaries of political speech, qualified privilege and reputational protection in an era of high-octane broadcast partisanship, while its outcome could recalibrate executive accountability over strategic mineral governance.
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Author: Korkor Anumu
