Music company Ground Up Chale and its founder, Glen Boateng, have filed a writ of summons at the High Court in Accra against Ghanaian musician Kwesi Arthur.

Kwesi is accused of libel, and as a result, Glen and his company are seeking more than 10 million cedis in damages over comments he made in a social media post about a week ago. 

According to the writ of summons filed on 27th January 2026, made available to myjoyonline.com, the plaintiffs want the court to declare a series of statements by Kwesi Arthur as defamatory and libelous, demand the removal of the posts, restrain further defamatory comments, and require a public apology and retraction with the same prominence as the original posts.

The suit also seeks: General damages of five million Ghana Cedis (GH₵ 5,000,000), special damages of two million Ghana Cedis (GH₵ 2,000,000) for economic harm and lost business opportunities, aggravated and exemplary damages of three million Ghana Cedis (GH₵ 3,000,000), and legal costs.

At the centre of the dispute are five key statements attributed to the rapper in his 21 January 2026 post. In those posts Kwesi Arthur said he was being asked to pay USD 150,000 for using images of himself in an independent project and alleged that Ground Up Chale “claims to own me, my image, my music, and everything attached to it from 2016 to this day.”

He also claimed he had “not made a dime from any of my music” while working with the label and accused the management of threats, manipulation and attempts to block the release of his current music. The most serious claim warned: “If anything happens to me, Glen Boateng and all team members of Ground Up Chale are responsible and should be held responsible.”

Kwesi Arthur’s allegations triggered widespread reaction across social media and from industry observers who raised concerns about artist rights and contract fairness in Ghana’s music business. Supporters quickly rallied behind the rapper using hashtags such as #FreeKwesiArthur.  

The suit demands that the rapper immediately and permanently delete his Instagram and X posts from 21st January 2026 and all related content from his social media platforms. It also seeks an injunction to prevent him and his agents from further sharing or circulating defamatory comments, and it orders a vetted apology to be published.

Ground Up Chale’s lawyer, Jonathan K. Amable, has publicly rejected key aspects of Kwesi Arthur’s claims. During a Joy FM X Spaces discussion, he said the company did not stop the rapper from using his images broadly but only restricted the use of footage and visuals produced by the label during their contractual relationship.

Mr Amable also presented portions of email correspondence showing that Kwesi Arthur received royalties worth £91,370 and payments from distribution deals, countering the claim that the artist earned nothing. He said the contract signed in 2017 included terms under which the label owned material created in that period.  

The legal representative further said the dispute is rooted in contractual rights over past works and that Ground Up Chale is prepared to defend its interests.

Kwesi Arthur rose to national fame under the Ground Up Chale collective after he was signed in 2017, and his music has influenced Ghana’s hip-hop scene, giving voice to younger audiences through hits such as Grind Day and Winning.

As of publication, Kwesi Arthur had not responded to the legal action.