{"id":45780,"date":"2025-08-01T09:11:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T09:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=45780"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:11:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T09:11:32","slug":"acting-ceo-of-forestry-commission-dr-hugh-clement-brown-sues-abronye-dc-for-defamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2025\/08\/01\/acting-ceo-of-forestry-commission-dr-hugh-clement-brown-sues-abronye-dc-for-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting CEO of Forestry Commission, Dr. Hugh Clement Brown, Sues Abronye DC for Defamation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Dr. Hugh Clement A. Brown, has initiated legal action against firebrand political activist and Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, over alleged defamatory statements made against him in recent media engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Filed at the High Court in Accra, the lawsuit contends that Abronye DC made \u201cfalse, malicious, and defamatory remarks\u201d which have seriously injured Dr. Brown\u2019s reputation, integrity, and professional standing. The statements in question reportedly accused Dr. Brown of engaging in corrupt activities and mismanagement within the Forestry Commission, including claims of underhand dealings in timber permits and complicity in illegal logging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the statement of claim, Abronye\u2019s comments \u2014 made during a radio interview and widely circulated on social media platforms \u2014 were \u201cbaseless and reckless\u201d and intended to incite public outrage against the Forestry Commission and its leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Brown, who was appointed Acting CEO in late 2023 following the retirement of Mr. John Allotey, maintains that he has always acted within the bounds of the law and upheld high ethical standards in his stewardship of Ghana\u2019s forest resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through his legal counsel, Dr. Brown is seeking the following reliefs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>GH\u20b55 million in general damages for defamation,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An unqualified apology published in at least three national newspapers and broadcast on major radio and TV stations,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A perpetual injunction restraining Abronye DC from further making such statements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sources close to the Forestry Commission say the lawsuit is aimed at protecting the Commission\u2019s integrity and ensuring that public discourse on national issues is grounded in facts and not \u201cpolitically motivated attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abronye DC, known for his outspoken and controversial style, is yet to issue a formal response to the lawsuit. However, insiders within the NPP suggest that he intends to defend his statements, citing what he calls \u201cincontrovertible evidence of wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This legal battle comes at a time when the Forestry Commission is under increased scrutiny over forest degradation, illegal mining, and timber exploitation, making the outcome of this case significant for the Commission\u2019s public image and institutional credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The High Court has set a preliminary hearing for August 26, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stay with Nsemgh.com as we bring you updates on this developing story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Dr. Hugh Clement A. Brown, has initiated legal action against firebrand political activist and Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, over alleged defamatory statements made against him in recent media engagements. Filed at the High [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":39102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1],"tags":[1127,4553,11261,7603,9678,11394,8433,13124,7960,7489,1350,10507,10933,1094,192,5731,10321,11577,11111,11493,4656,10342,9974,10386,7795,67,1137,8353,12901,8443,5349,594],"class_list":["post-45780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-abronye-dc","tag-accra","tag-accused","tag-activist","tag-apology","tag-attacks","tag-bono","tag-bono-regional-chairman","tag-case","tag-chairman","tag-ceo","tag-court","tag-defamation","tag-forestry-commission","tag-ghana","tag-high-court","tag-illegal","tag-illegal-mining","tag-injured","tag-interview","tag-kwame-baffoe","tag-law","tag-leadership","tag-legal-battle","tag-mining","tag-nsemgh","tag-nsemgh-com","tag-outrage","tag-permits","tag-retirement","tag-social-media","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45781,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45780\/revisions\/45781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}