AMADJEI AND OTHERS vs. OPOKU WARE [1961]DLSC1973

Date	1961-02-20
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1961]DLSC1973

SARKODEE-ADOO JSC

CRABBE JSC

BLAY JSC

G. R. MCV. FRANCOIS FOR THE APPELLANTS

TWUM-BARIMA FOR THE RESPONDENTS.

[1961]DLSC1973
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AMADJEI AND OTHERS

[SUPREME COURT]

[1963] 1 GLR 150

DATE: 20TH FEBRUARY, 1963.

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COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp;

G.
R. MCV. FRANCOIS FOR THE APPELLANTS.

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SARKODEE-ADOO, CRABBE AND BLAY
JJ.S.C.

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&nbsp;

JUDGMENT OF BLAY J.S.C.

The appellants who were plaintiffs in the court below together
claimed against the respondent £G5,000 damages for false imprisonment. It
appears from the evidence that the appellants are important citizens of the
town of Kwabeng in the Akim Abuakwa traditional area, of which the respondent
is the chief.

The appellants’ case was that the respondent on the 28th October,
1961, made a false charge against them to the police whereupon they were
arrested, detained and subsequently escorted through the streets of Kwabeng to
the Ahenfie, the residence of the respondent; that after their detention
lasting for about two hours, i.e. from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., they were released by
the police who said they could find nothing against them as the respondent
refused to prefer any formal charge against them. The defence of the respondent
was that he did not cause the arrest of the appellants or any of them.

The action was tried before Ollennu J. (as he then was) in the
High Court, Accra, and the appellants’ claim was dismissed by him with costs.
It is from this judgment that the appellants have appealed to this court on
seven grounds, namely, that:

“(1) the learned judge failed to appreciate the legal meaning of
arrest in a case of false imprisonment.

(2) The learned judge erred in not considering the chain of
circumstances initiated by the defendant in causing the arrest of the
plaintiffs, culminating in an order to the police to arrest the plaintiffs.

(3) The learned judge entirely failed to appreciate the evidential
value of exhibits A and B which recorded the orders of the defendant upon which
the police acted.

(4) The learned judge erred in accepting what he liked from the
said exhibits A and B and rejecting material evidence.

(5) There was no basis whatsoever for the learned judge’s
rejection of the plaintiffs’ evidence when the defendant had admitted most of
the same.

(6) The learned judge confused the police evidence of a request
for an order to take the plaintiffs to Anyinam with an order for their arrest
at Kwabeng.

(7) The malice of the defendant against the plaintiffs as shown in
the evidence adduced in court was not considered by the learned judge and he
erred thereby.”

Counsel in arguing grounds (1) to (5) of the grounds of appeal
referred in extenso to the evidence adduced at the trial both in support of the
appellants’ case and in support of the defence.

From the evidence on record the following facts clearly emerge:
Two constables of the Ghana Police Force stationed at Anyinam, namely,
Constable Daniel Kwadjo Danso and Escort Constable Abudulai Fulani, paid a
routine visit to the village of Kwabeng on the 28th October, 1961. While there,
they went to the Ahenfie to report their arrival to the respondent who is the
chief. At the Ahenfie the respondent handed to them a piece of paper with the
names of the appellants written on it and said that they were people holding an
unlawful meeting against the state at Opanin Asante’s house. According to the
police the respondent asked that those persons be arrested but the respondent
denies this and says that he only asked that the matter be investigated.