Prominent Ghanaian entrepreneur, businessman and former presidential candidate Nana Kwame Bediako has returned to the UK High Court to challenge a $14.9 million judgment arising from a long-running property development dispute in Ghana, alleging that documents used to secure the original ruling were obtained fraudulently.
Bediako, widely known as Cheddar, is the founder of Kwarleyz Group, with business interests spanning real estate, construction, energy and hospitality. He also founded real estate company Wonda World and the philanthropic New Africa Foundation. He also contested Ghana’s 2024 presidential election as one of the youngest presidential candidates in Ghana’s history.
Bediako is seeking to overturn a January 2025 UK High Court judgment ordering him to pay $14.9 million to Cola Holdings Limited, the property investment vehicle of the London-based Cola family.
The ruling followed a dispute over an $18 million loan secured to finance the development of No. 1 Oxford Street, a 108-unit serviced apartment complex in Accra. Bediako is now challenging the judgment, alleging that the deed of indemnity used to establish his liability contained a signature he did not authorise or make.
The case centres on No. 1 Oxford Street, a development in Accra comprising 108 serviced apartments. The project emerged from a business relationship between Bediako and Azad Cola, with the two having reportedly known each other since around 2009.
According to court filings, the Cola family secured an $18 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finance the development. When the loan was called in April 2023, the Colas maintained that Bediako was responsible for covering half of the outstanding amount.
Their subsequent legal action resulted in the $14.9 million judgment against Bediako in January 2025.
However, in a new claim filed at the end of October 2026, Bediako has disputed the authenticity of the documentation used in the original proceedings. His legal team maintains that the signature on the deed of indemnity was not his and that he has no knowledge of how it came to appear on the document.
The filing further states that Bediako was in Nigeria on January 18, 2018, the date the document was purportedly signed at his office in Accra. His lawyers have suggested that an electronic version of his signature may have been used without his knowledge or consent. They have also raised questions about the role of his former executive assistant, Reginald Sittie, who allegedly maintained professional relationships with both parties.
Bediako’s court filing claims that Azad Cola gave Sittie a Rolex watch in the spring of 2018. While Bediako has stressed that he is not alleging a bribe, his legal team argues that the gift raises questions about the nature of the relationship and whether Sittie was acting independently in matters involving the two businessmen.
Bediako’s legal team has additionally questioned whether Cola Holdings knew, or was recklessly indifferent to, the alleged irregularities surrounding the documentation presented to the court.
The businessman is seeking to have the original judgment set aside and is also pursuing compensation for what he describes as significant losses resulting from the earlier ruling.
The dispute has attracted attention given the profile of the parties involved. Bediako is a recognised figure in Ghana’s business and political landscape, having built a prominent business profile before entering the country’s 2024 presidential election.
His challenge to the judgment raises wider questions about commercial accountability, documentation and the protection of business interests in cross-border investment arrangements.
Cola Holdings has strongly rejected the allegations. Representing the company, Lawrence Cartier said the family categorically denies the claims and intends to submit a comprehensive defence to the UK High Court.
Separately, Cola Holdings is pursuing possession of No. 1 Oxford Street through receivership proceedings in Ghana. The development, which opened around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reportedly ceased accepting reservations.
The latest proceedings will give the High Court an opportunity to consider Bediako’s allegations and determine whether the original judgment should stand.