[1973]DLHC2394 • February 12, 1973 • High Court
KESSIE vs. CHARMANT AND ANOTHER
The plaintiff, a solicitor and barrister who was also a Ghanaian ambassador, claimed £G50,000 or 100,000 new cedis from the defendants for breach of contract. The defendants, a Ghanaian timber company and its managing director, had solicited the plaintiff's assistance to obtain a timber concession in Liberia. The plaintiff alleged that in consideration for his services, he was promised cash and shares, as well as a directorship and remuneration contingent on leaving diplomatic service. The defendants failed to deliver share certificates or provide accounts, leading to the plaintiff's claim.
read moreThe plaintiff claims “the sum of £G50,000 or 100,000 new cedis from the defendants jointly and severally for breach of a contract between the said plaintiff and the defendants contained in a document dated 2 December 1960.” The writ was filed on 21 June 1968. The plaintiff is a solicitor and barrister-at-law and has held office as an ambassador in Monrovia, Peking and Cairo. He was first appointed to the diplomatic service in August 1959. The first defendant is the managing director of the second defendants - a company registered in Ghana and engaged in the production of timber and sawn boards. The plaintiff’s statement of claim states inter alia: “(3) In December 1960 the first defendant asked the plaintiff in his private capacity to approach the President of Liberia and other senior officials of the Department of Forestry to grant the defendant company a timber concession of about 3,000 square miles to enable them to operate in Liberia. (4) In consideration for this and o...