BOATENG vs. OPPONG AND ANOTHER

JUDGMENT OF ANIN J.A. At about 6 p.m. on 23 December 1968, a Kumasi tailor by name Kwaku Gyimah alias Dwomoh hired the second defendant’s tro-tro lorry No. AT 9491 to convey him and his mourning party to the funeral of his daughter at Kumawu Bodomase. Among the passengers who undertook the trip was the plaintiff, a fellow tailor resident at Kumasi; and the lorry was driven by the first defendant, a servant and employee of the second defendant. The outward journey was uneventful. However, on the return journey to Kumasi the same night, an accident occurred just after a curve on the outskirts of Dadiase village. According to the plaintiff, the driver drove the lorry so fast and negligently that “it ran into a ditch” and he fell off the vehicle and sustained injuries for which he received medical treatment for some period. This action was accordingly instituted in the High Court, Kumasi, against the defendants jointly and severally for special and general damages for the first de...