Black Sherif's former manager sues Police for GH¢5m - Here’s why

Josephine Amuzu 13:59 - 29 August 2026

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Black Sherif's former manager Shadrach Agyei Owusu

Black Sherif's former manager Shadrach Agyei Owusu is suing Ghana Police and AG for GH¢5m after an alleged unlawful arrest in his home damaged his business.

Former Black Sherif manager Shadrach Agyei Owusu has sued the Ghana Police Service and Attorney General for GH¢5 million over an alleged unlawful and humiliating arrest in which he says he was taken from his home in boxer shorts.
He claims videos of the arrest went viral, damaging his reputation and causing him to lose a US$200,000 construction contract, for which he is seeking US$80,000 in special damages.
Owusu says the complaints that led to his arrest were eventually determined by senior police authorities to be civil and contractual disputes, with no criminal offence disclosed.

Former Black Sherif manager Shadrach Agyei Owusu has sued the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General, demanding GH¢5 million in compensation over an arrest he describes as unlawful, humiliating and a violation of his constitutional rights.

The pharmacist, artiste manager and building contractor is also seeking US$80,000 in special damages, claiming that videos of his arrest circulated widely on social media and eventually cost him a construction contract.

The human rights action was filed at the Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra.

According to court documents, the incident began at about 6 a.m. on June 11, 2026, when four armed police officers allegedly arrived at Owusu's residence in Accra to arrest him.

What followed, he claims, was an arrest that left him humiliated in front of his four young children and exposed to the public in a manner he believes violated his right to human dignity.

In his affidavit, Owusu says he asked the officers why they were arresting him and requested to see a warrant authorising the arrest or a search of his home.

According to him, no warrant was produced and he was not given a satisfactory explanation at the time.

He claims the officers searched parts of his residence and instructed him to accompany them to the National Police Headquarters, where he would supposedly be told why he was being arrested.

But there was another problem. Owusu says he had not yet dressed for the day and was wearing only boxer shorts when the officers arrived.

He claims he asked for a few minutes to put on proper clothing but was refused.

He was allegedly handcuffed and escorted from his home in his boxer shorts before being taken to the Police Headquarters on Ring Road.

The incident, he says, happened in front of his four children, who became distressed as they watched their father being taken away.

For Owusu, the humiliation did not end at the gate of his home.

He claims members of the public recorded the arrest and that footage of him being escorted away in handcuffs later spread across social media.

Why he was arrested

According to the court documents, Owusu was eventually told at the Police Headquarters that complaints had been made against him by a man identified as Sarhene Raphael.

The complaints reportedly involved a Range Rover, a property transaction and other commercial dealings.

Owusu, however, insists that the disputes were business and contractual matters, not criminal offences.

He says he first became acquainted with Raphael through Black Sherif, whom he managed around 2021.

One of the disputes allegedly involved about US$180,000.

Owusu claims Raphael's mother contacted him in August 2024 while he was in the United Kingdom and told him that her son had been detained by the police over allegations involving the money.

According to Owusu, he intervened to help resolve the matter and, as part of that process, even sold his house to raise money towards settling the alleged debt.

A document attached to his affidavit allegedly records the debt at US$180,000, with US$106,250 having been repaid and approximately US$73,750 remaining.

The repayment arrangement, he says, involved a combination of Ghana cedis, US dollars and a Range Rover.

Another dispute involved land

Owusu's affidavit also refers to a separate land transaction involving a woman who allegedly received land through Raphael.

He claims Raphael was expected to pay him GH¢200,000 in relation to the transaction but failed to do so.

After the disagreement emerged, Owusu says he explained the situation to the woman and refunded GH¢110,000 to her.

His position is that this, too, was a contractual dispute and did not amount to a criminal offence.

Then came the construction dispute

A third complaint allegedly concerned a construction project at Tse Addo.

Owusu says a client complained that work on a building did not correspond with an alleged payment of US$400,000.

He disputes this and says the construction was dependent on the client releasing funds progressively.

According to him, the client was instead indebted to him by about US$180,000, contributing to the delay in completing the project.

But the most important part of his case is what he says happened after the complaints reached senior police authorities.

Owusu claims the complainants were invited before the Director of Operations of the Ghana Police Service at the National Police Headquarters.

He says the various allegations were reviewed after both sides were heard.

According to Owusu, the Director of Operations concluded that the complaints did not disclose any criminal offence and were essentially civil and contractual disputes.

He says the complaints were subsequently dismissed on that basis.

But by then, Owusu argues, the damage had already been done.

Owusu claims videos of his arrest were circulated across Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X and WhatsApp, as well as online news platforms.

He alleges that some of the publications went further, portraying him as a fraudster and claiming that he had collected about US$1 million from people under the pretext of selling land and properties.

Owusu denies those allegations and says they were never substantiated by the police.

He claims the footage and related publications were viewed more than one million times.

According to him, the publicity damaged his reputation among his patients, business associates, artistes, contractors, clients and members of the wider public.

His argument is straightforward: people who saw the videos could have concluded that he was a criminal or fraudster, even though, he says, the complaints against him were ultimately treated as civil matters.

He says the arrest cost him US$80,000

The alleged reputational damage, Owusu claims, also had a direct financial consequence.

His company, Grand Move Construction Limited, had reportedly signed a US$200,000 construction agreement with Edward Osei of Dawards Bond Limited in November 2024.

The project involved a six-unit, four-bedroom residential development at Oyarifa.

According to Owusu, US$120,000 had been paid as earnest money and part payment, leaving US$80,000 to be paid upon completion and handover.

He says construction had reached lintel level before his arrest.

But after videos and reports about the arrest began circulating, Owusu claims the client terminated the agreement and prevented him from completing the project.

He is therefore asking the court to award him the outstanding US$80,000, arguing that he lost the money because of the reputational damage caused by the arrest and its publicity.

Owusu is asking the High Court to declare that his arrest and detention were unlawful and violated his constitutional right to personal liberty.

He also wants the court to find that the manner of his arrest — including being handcuffed in front of his children and allegedly taken through public streets in his boxer shorts — violated his right to human dignity and amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Among the reliefs he is seeking are:

GH¢5 million in compensation for the alleged violation of his fundamental human rights;
US$80,000 in special damages for the alleged loss of the Oyarifa construction contract;
General damages; Legal costs on a full indemnity basis; and
Any other relief the court considers appropriate.

The Ghana Police Service is the first respondent, while the Attorney General is the second respondent.

For now, the allegations remain claims made by Owusu in support of his case and have not been determined by the High Court. The Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General will have the opportunity to respond as the case proceeds.

The motion was dated August 25, 2026, while Owusu's supporting affidavit was sworn on August 26, 2026.

As of the date of the court documents, no hearing date had been fixed.