STATE CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION vs. HASNAW CO LTD AND ANOTHER

The respondents had earlier obtained judgment against State Construction Corporation for payment of money. When they sought to enforce that judgment, State Construction Corporation had been placed on divestiture. The respondents contended that the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), by virtue of the Divestiture of State Interests (Implementation) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 326), had taken over the assets and liabilities of State Construction Corporation, had sold its assets, and had lodged the proceeds in DIC accounts at the Bank of Ghana. They therefore initiated garnishee proceedings aimed at attaching funds said to be held through or for DIC in satisfaction of the judgment debt. The trial judge ordered attachment of DIC’s accounts at the Bank of Ghana. On appeal, the Court of Appeal held that the procedure adopted was fundamentally wrong because DIC was not the judgment debtor, had not been made a party for purposes of determining liability, and the mandatory steps under Order 45 of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 1954 (LN 140A) were not followed. Portion of judgment: 'The respondents obtained a judgment against the State Construction Corporation for the payment of certain sums of moneys... The respondents resorted to garnishee proceedings... directed at the Divestiture Implementation Committee... The trial judge nevertheless ordered that the accounts of the Divestiture Implementation Committee at the Bank of Ghana be attached to satisfy the judgment debt.'