RICHARD JOHN BUTT vs. CHAPEL HILL PROPERTIES AND DEVI CHARITY BUTT [2004]DLSC6440

Date	2004-07-21
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL CA3/2003
Citation No.	[2004]DLSC6440

BAMFORD-ADDO (MRS) J.S.C.

AKUFFO J.S.C.

BADDOO J.S.C.

PROF. KLUDZE J.S.C.

DR. DATE-BAH J.S.C.

MR. AYIKOI OTOO FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT

MR. FELIX NTRAKWA FOR DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT

[2004]DLSC6440
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >RICHARD JOHN BUTT <o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>CHAPEL HILL PROPERTIES AND DEVI CHARITY BUTT <o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p>[SUPREME COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">CIVIL
APPEAL CA 3/2003&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;DATE: 21ST JULY, 2004<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR. AYIKOI OTOO FOR
PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT. <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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MR. FELIX NTRAKWA FOR
DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT <o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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BAMFORD-ADDO (MRS), J.S.C. AKUFFO,
J.S.C. BADDOO, J.S.C. PROF. KLUDZE, J.S.C. AND DR. DATE-BAH, J.S.C.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>BAMFORD-ADDO,
(MRS), J.S.C. <o:p></o:p>I
have been privileged to read in advance the judgment of my able and respected
Brother Dr. Date-Bah, J.S.C. and I agree with the decision contained therein. <o:p></o:p>I
also support the conclusion reached by him on the question of interest and have
nothing new or useful to add.<o:p></o:p>AKUFFO,
J.S.C. <o:p></o:p>I
have read the learned opinion of my brother Dr. Date-Bah, J.S.C., and am in
agreement with his conclusions regarding the main outcome of this appeal.
Unfortunately, however, after all due consideration, I do not agree with his
conclusions on the cessation date of the interest awarded. For the reasons I
expressed in IBM v. Hasnem Enterprise Ltd. [2001 - 2002] SCGLR 393, it is my
view that, in a matter such as this case, the court may, pursuant to the Court
(Award of Interest) Instrument, 1984 (L.I 1295), award interest that is
exigible up to the date of final payment.<o:p></o:p>DR.
DATE-BAH J.S.C. <o:p></o:p>This
is the sad case of a love story gone wrong. Boy meets girl (both at a young
age); they fall in love, marry and make a life together. More than twenty years
later, the marriage breaks down and lawyers have to pick up the pieces and deal
with the aftermath of the breakdown in the relationship. This is at the heart
of the facts of this case, which are as follows. <o:p></o:p>The
Plaintiff/Appellant, who is referred to subsequently in this judgment as the
Plaintiff, is a British subject. He married the second Defendant/Respondent
(hereafter referred to as the second Defendant), a Ghanaian, in 1972, when he
was 22 and she was 19 years of age. They met in Ghana when he came here on a
contract of employment to undertake a tour of duty as Assistant to the Managing
Director of a lumber buying agency in Takoradi. At the commencement of these
proceedings, he was the Managing Director of a wood processing factory in
Takoradi. His bride was unemployed at the time of their marriage. She
subsequently, however, trained and worked as a secretary, when the couple spent
four years in England. After the breakdown of their marriage, accompanied by
some violence against the wife, and the wife taking up a separate residence in
the premises of the first Defendant, the couple were divorced on 14th June
1996. <o:p></o:p>The
first Defendant is a company registered in Ghana in 1993. It was registered
with the Plaintiff's ex-wife, the second Defendant, as the sole shareholder and
with her and her cousin as the first directors. According to the Plaintiff, it
should have been registered with the equity shared equally between himself and
the second Defendant. But this was vigorously denied by the second Defendant.
The learned trial judge found that the evidence did not support the Plaintiff's
contention. After the formation of the company, however, the Plaintiff was
appointed a director of the first Defendant in April 1994 and the Registrar of
Companies duly notified. The second Defendant, however, denied this appointment
in her testimony, claiming that she had never instructed that any notification
to the Registrar be sent. Before 12th October 1995, he had been a joint
signatory of cheques drawn on the company's bank account. On that day, he
jointly signed a letter with his wife to the company's bankers authorising her
to be the sole signatory while he was away on a business tour. On his return,
the second Defendant refused to authorise his restoration as an authorised
signatory. <o:p></o:p>The
first Defendant was intended as a vehicle for making an entry into the
hospitality industry. The Plaintiff averred in his Statement of Claim that
sometime in early 1993, the second Defendant came up with the idea of the
Plaintiff investing in Ghana's hotel/catering industry. She soon afterwards
informed him that the former Midwood Hotel, Takoradi, which, was owned by State
Gold Mines Corporation, was up for tender. The Plaintiff admitted that he was
originally sceptical because neither he nor the second Defendant had the
necessary experience in hotel management. The Plaintiff averred that a lawyer,
who was a friend of their family, </main>