STATE GOLD MINING CORPORATION vs. SISSALA

The respondent was employed by the appellant corporation (hereinafter called the corporation) as a machine driver in the latter’s mine at Prestea. On 30 June 1966, while engaged in his work, he was involved in an accident which resulted in the amputation of his left leg. On 13 December 1967, the respondent and the corporation entered into an agreement professedly under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1963 (Act 174), in which the latter paid to the former, the sum of N¢1,043.97 as compensation for his injuries. On 9 January 1968, the respondent applied to the circuit court to have that agreement cancelled. This application was acceded to on 9 April of that year but the court then proceeded to make an order not entirely in harmony with the cancellation of the agreement. Barely a month after the court’s order, the respondent brought an action in the High Court, Sekondi, against the corporation for damages at common law for his injuries. The action was grounded on an averment that t...