The Co-Chair of the Citizens Movement Against Corruption (CMAC), Edem Senanu, is calling for accountability following the dismissal of a defamation suit filed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Ransford Abbey.

His comments come after the High Court in Accra dismissed a defamation case filed by Dr Abbey against the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe Abronye.

In the suit filed in August 2025, Dr Abbey was seeking personal compensation over alleged defamatory remarks made by Mr Abronye during radio broadcasts and publications, which he claimed had damaged his reputation. However, the court ruled that the suit was improperly filed because it was instituted through COCOBOD’s Legal Department, even though the case was brought in Dr Abbey’s personal capacity. COCOBOD was also not listed as a party to the suit.

Speaking in an interview with Class News on Friday, January 23, 2026, Edem Senanu said leadership must take steps to ensure that public funds, if any, used in pursuing the case are refunded.

“My concern is that good leadership would, as it were, move in to make payment of whatever costs were utilized by the legal persons in COCOBOD to pursue this case up to this point,” he said.

He explained that the court’s ruling highlighted a clear procedural failure, which should have been prevented through proper legal advice.

“Clearly, what the judge was doing was to point out that this should not have come by that process. The lawyers should have advised him,” he stated.

While giving the benefit of the doubt to the COCOBOD CEO, Mr Senanu stressed the need for accountability.

“We want to assume that he didn’t know. For purposes of accountability, he should be able to make some restitution of whatever amounts were used, to ensure that there is no cost to this, that is then attributed to his personal undertakings in the court,” he added.