Afenyo-Markin’s lawyers clear air on Sammy Gyamfi’s defamation suit

A legal dispute over the service of a defamation writ between Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has taken a new turn, with lawyers for the Effutu MP insisting that the GoldBod CEO cannot claim ignorance of the case.

Dehyena Chambers, lawyers for Afenyo-Markin, have rejected suggestions that their client is deliberately avoiding service of court processes on Sammy Gyamfi, arguing instead that the defendant had already been duly served through his lawyers.

The controversy follows correspondence from Ayine & Partners, lawyers for Sammy Gyamfi, who had earlier informed the High Court that they had express instructions from their client to accept service of the writ and other processes on his behalf.

In a letter dated August 26, 2026, the firm directed that the processes be served through its chambers at East Legon, Accra.

According to Dehyena Chambers, the writ was subsequently served on Sammy Gyamfi’s lawyers. The firm, however, claims that the lawyers returned the process to the court registry the following day.

The lawyers further allege that a separate attempt was made to personally serve Sammy Gyamfi at his office on August 27, but that he declined to accept the writ and allegedly instructed security personnel to remove the court bailiff.

Dehyena Chambers said these circumstances make claims that Afenyo-Markin is avoiding service misleading, stressing that responsibility for serving court processes rests with the court registry and its bailiffs rather than the plaintiff.

The lawyers relied on Order 7, Rule 12(2) of C.I. 47, arguing that where a lawyer has undertaken in writing to accept service on behalf of a client, service on that lawyer constitutes valid service.

“It must be emphasised that it is the Defendant who first authorised his lawyers to accept service of the writ,” the lawyers stated, adding that the subsequent return of the process did not erase the fact that service had already been effected.

They therefore maintain that Sammy Gyamfi has knowledge of the proceedings and is legally required to enter an appearance and file his defence.

The dispute forms part of an increasingly heated public confrontation between Afenyo-Markin and Gyamfi over GoldBod’s operations and reported losses associated with the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme totaling over $1.7billion (GHC22billion).

Afenyo-Markin subsequently initiated the defamation action following comments made by Gyamfi in which the GoldBod CEO described the Minority Leader as an “extortionist.”