EKUONA CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD. vs. BANK FOR HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION

The plaintiff, a road and building construction company incorporated under Ghanaian law, participated in the Second Highway Project financed by a World Bank loan implemented by the defendant Bank for Housing and Construction (B.H.C.) and the Ghana Highway Authority (G.H.A.). Under this project, B.H.C. provided equipment to contractors, including the plaintiff, to carry out road maintenance works awarded by G.H.A. The plaintiff was granted a loan to procure equipment, which was purchased by B.H.C. and released to the plaintiff upon securing a contract with G.H.A. The plaintiff worked on the project for about three years before B.H.C. terminated the contract and seized the equipment, alleging breach of contract by the plaintiff. The plaintiff contended the seizure was wrongful and unlawful.

JUDGMENT OF AMPIAH J.A. The plaintiff is a road and building construction company incorporated as a limited liability company under the laws of Ghana. The defendant is a bank incorporated under the laws of Ghana. By a series of international agreements between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the World Bank—it is not clear on the evidence whether it is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the World Bank itself—the Government of Ghana obtained a credit loan from the World Bank for the purpose of financing Ghana’s roads maintenance projects. For our purpose, it is not necessary to know the intricacies of these agreements. It suffices to know however that this loan facility was, by an agreement, to be implemented by the Bank for Housing and Construction (B.H.C.), the defendant herein and the Ghana Highway Authority (G.H.A.). Under one of the projects dubbed “the Second Highway Project”, the B.H.C. was to procure creditable Ghanaian road contr...