Hugh Clement A Brown (Left) and Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC
Hugh Clement A Brown, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Forestry Commission, has filed a GH¢20 million defamation lawsuit against Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The suit, filed at the Accra High Court, stems from allegations made by Abronye on his online television platform, OHIA TV, during a broadcast on July 10, 2025.
In the programme, The Evidence, Abronye accused Brown of forging official documents and unlawfully authorising the sale of portions of Ghana’s forest reserves.
He further alleged that Brown backdated official letters to implicate the previous NPP administration in illegal mining activities.
In his statement of claim, Brown described the allegations as false, malicious, and intended to tarnish his reputation 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.
“The statements were made maliciously and without any factual basis,” Brown’s legal team stated, arguing that the broadcast portrayed him as “an embezzler, a dishonest and fraudulent person, and a thief.”
Brown, a seasoned forester with a PhD in Tropical Forest Ecology, has been with the Forestry Commission since 1993, serving in senior positions including Director of Operations and Executive Director of the Forest Services Division.
He was appointed Acting CEO in January 2025.
In the 20-minute broadcast, Abronye alleged that Brown had issued and signed official documents in mid-2024, months before assuming his current role, to facilitate payments from mining companies for forest entry permits.
According to Abronye, the documents were backdated to May and June 2024 and were part of a scheme to implicate the former NPP government in illegal mining deals falsely.
“If you backdate a letter to make it look like these events happened under the NPP regime, then you are engaging in forgery,” Abronye claimed during the programme.
He further accused Brown of collecting payments through unofficial means and diverting proceeds from forest reserves into private accounts.
Brown has rejected all allegations, insisting that at the time the purported documents were signed, he had not yet assumed office as Acting CEO.
He denies any involvement in financial irregularities or attempts to implicate the NPP in illegal mining activities.
As part of the reliefs sought, Brown is requesting six televised apologies on GTV, TV3, Joy TV, and OHIA TV. Four consecutive weeks of retractions published in the Daily Graphic. A formal apology posted on all OHIA TV digital platforms.
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