SHELL COMPANY OF GHANA LTD. vs. AYIMAVOR AND ANOTHER

Apaloo J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. The plaintiffs are the administrators of the estate of the late Madam Akle Ayimavor of Kopehe and Accra. The deceased met her death as a result of a lorry accident which took place at Hwakpo junction on 5 November 1967. According to the evidence, the deceased who carried a headload, was talking to the driver of a stationary lorry at the Hwakpo-Ada junction when a car driven by a European in the defendant company’s employ emerged from the direction of Ada and violently struck her. Such was the force of the impact, that the car carried her on its bonnet for a number of yards and eventually hurled her on to the ground. She suffered serious injuries from this and her end came shortly afterwards. The plaintiffs therefore brought a suit against the company, under the Civil Liability Act, 1963 (Act 176), claiming damages under several heads. The plaintiffs based themselves on the fact that the company’s servant was negligent. The company...