[2012]DLSC2615 • January 25, 2012 • Supreme Court •
HAJAARA FARMS LTD vs. SOCIETE GENERALE- SOCIAL AND SECURITY BANK
Hajaara Farms Ltd (the plaintiff/respondent) entered into a loan agreement with Societe Generale - Social and Security Bank (the defendant/appellant) to finance the importation of ten Renault tractors from France. Upon arrival, the company took delivery and custody of the tractors. The bank seized all ten tractors, releasing only five after new terms were agreed. The remaining five were kept and eventually sold by the bank without the company's consent. The bank claimed rights under the original loan agreement, which was not produced at trial. The company sued for wrongful detention and disposal of the tractors and damages, while the bank counterclaimed for outstanding loan repayment and proceeds from the tractors' use.
read moreDR. DATE-BAH JSC: The key facts in this appeal are that a farming company (the plaintiff/respondent/respondent) entered into a loan agreement with a bank (the defendant/appellant/appellant) to finance the importation of 10 tractors from France. On their arrival in Ghana, the farming company took delivery and custody of the tractors. Dissatisfied with this, the bank seized the tractors and put them in its warehouse. It released 5 of the tractors to the company only after new terms had been agreed between them. The remaining five remained in the bank’s custody until they were ultimately sold by the bank. The bank claimed to be exercising rights under the original loan agreement that it had concluded with the farming company. But this agreement was never put in evidence at the trial. Eventually, the five tractors released to the company were also seized by the bank and sold. The farming company brought this action in 1993, claiming: a) “that an account be taken of the procee...