High Court grants substituted service in Koku Anyidoho’s GHS5million defamation suit against Captain Smart, Media General

An Accra High Court on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 granted an application for substituted service in the GHS 5 million defamation case filed by Samuel Koku Anyidoho against Captain Smart and Media General.

Mr. Anyidoho brought the suit in January after Captain Smart made remarks he described as deliberate and defamatory, concerning his tenure as Head of Communications and Presidential Spokesperson during the administration of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills.

Feeding into longstanding and unfounded claims about Mr. Anyidoho’s alleged poor working relationship with then-Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Captain Smart stated on air: “I know it for a fact that Koku Anyidoho used to insult Vice President John Mahama face-to-face at the Flagstaff House.”

Captain Smart further alleged: “Director of Operations at Flagstaff House, used to disrespect JM and even foolishly lock up the office of Vice President John Mahama to prevent him from entering his office to work.” He went on to question the leadership of President Atta-Mills for allowing Koku Anyidoho such influence and disrespect.

In his broadcast, Captain Smart also claimed: “Koku was so disrespectful to the extent that John Mahama wrote a resignation letter, and it took former President Kufuor and Asantehene Otumfuor Osei-Tutu II to intervene to get John Mahama to stay in office.”

Responding to these allegations, Mr. Anyidoho pointed out: “I worked at the Castle, Osu, and NOT Flagstaff House, so he got the office location wrong and also got the designation wrong. It stands to reason that every other thing he said about Koku Anyidoho was also wrong, and that’s why he is running away from being served because he can’t defend himself. The law has very long arms and knows how to catch people who attempt to run away from it.”

Due to difficulties in personally serving the defendants with court documents, Mr. Anyidoho’s lawyers filed for substituted service, a request the court granted. The court ordered that the notice of service be placed on the notice board of the High Court, pasted on the premises of Media General, and published electronically via GhanaWeb, which originally disseminated the contested statements, as well as through other online platforms.

Captain Smart and Media General have a limited time to respond through their legal representatives. Failure to do so could result in summary judgment and other legal consequences.

The ruling was delivered by Her Ladyship Ellen Lordina Serwaa Mireku, Justice of the High Court, General Jurisdiction 8. Lawyer Kwame Osei held brief for Yaw Awuku-Asabre, Esq., of Awuku-Asabre Law Consult.