WESTERN HARDWOOD LIMITED vs. FORESTRY COMMISSION & ASSEFUAH SAWMILL LIMITED

JUDGMENT This suit focuses on the regulatory regime relating to the grant of timber rights in Ghana. It particularly brings into focus the legal effect of the Timber Resource Management Act, 1997 (Act 457) in terms of conversion of existing Lease Agreements into Timber Utilisation Contracts (TUCs). The subject matter of the suit is a timber concession granted to the Plaintiff by the Government of Ghana through the Forestry Commission, 1st Defendant herein sometime in 1994. This was before the coming into force of Act 457. Also in contention are contract areas (compartments) granted to 2nd Defendant at the Subri Forest Reserve area where 1st Defendant operates. PLAINTIFF’S CASE Plaintiff’s case as set out in its amended pleadings is that it is a company incorporated under the laws of Ghana involved in timber and allied businesses. Plaintiff says that following an application made to the Government of Ghana (GoG) as trustee for the Stool of Anyinabrem in the Western Region in...