ASD LUMBER (GH) LTD (PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT) vs. DANIEL OPOKU- ADABOWEST TANOKROM- TAKORADI AND THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT SEKONDI [2013]DLCA4787

ASD LUMBER (GH) LTD (PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT) vs. DANIEL OPOKU- ADABOWEST TANOKROM-... [2013]DLCA4787

Date	2013-03-21
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. H1/27/2012
Citation No.	[2013]DLCA4787

MARFUL-SAU JA (PRESIDING)

DENNIS ADJEI JA

BARBARA ACKAH-YENSU JA

H. BODZA-LUMOR FOR PLAINTIFF/ APPELLANT

E.K.N.ARTHUR FOR THE 1ST DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT

GEORGE Y.F. KPODO (PSA) FOR THE 2ND DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT

[2013]DLCA4787
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >ASD LUMBER (GH) LTD<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>DANIEL OPOKU- ADABOWEST
TANOKROM- TAKORADI AND THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL<o:p></o:p>(1ST
DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT SEKONDI<o:p></o:p>(2ND DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>[COURT
OF APPEAL, CAPE- COAST]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

CIVIL APPEAL NO. H1/27/2012&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 MARCH 2013<o:p></o:p>

GEORGE
Y.F. KPODO (PSA) FOR THE 2ND DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT<o:p></o:p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%;
border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>MARFUL-SAU, JA: &nbsp;<o:p></o:p>The
record of this appeal raises three fundamental issues that need to be resolved.
These are:-<o:p></o:p>(
i) whether or not the plaintiff/ appellant to be referred to as appellant
acquired any legal interest in Western Veneer Lumber Company (WVLC) to enable
it commence this action at the court below<o:p></o:p>(ii)&nbsp; whether or not the entity named Subin Timbers
Company Limited was de-confiscated by the Government of Ghana; and<o:p></o:p>(iii)&nbsp; whether the trial court was right in refusing
the plaintiff/ appellants claim for conversion or detinue<o:p></o:p>From
the record of appeal the facts of this case seems to be that Subin Timbers
Company Ltd (STC) which was incorporated in 1969 entered into a loose
partnership arrangement with Kwofie Timber Agency which was incorporated in
1972. Subin Timbers Company Ltd was managed by one Ivo Fiorini while Kwofie
Timber Agency was under the management of one Ohene Kwofie. The evidence on
record shows that these two managers pooled resources both financial and raw
materials together and mutually promoted their commercial interest in the
timber business.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;In 1982 the PNDC government passed the
Forfeiture of Assets and Transfer of Shares and other Proprietary Interest
(Subin Timber Company Ltd and Central Logging &amp; Sawmills Ltd) Law, PNDC Law
31, which confiscated Subin Timber Company Limited and another company Central
Logging &amp; Sawmills Ltd.<o:p></o:p>By
section 7 of PNDC Law 31, Subin Timber Company Ltd and Central Logging and
Sawmills Ltd were amalgamated and became Western Timbers Limited. This new
company was managed by the PNDC government and in 1990 the government purported
to amalgamate Western Timbers Ltd with another company called Takoradi Veneer
Lumber Company (TVLC) and called the new company Western Veneer and Lumber
Company (WVLC).<o:p></o:p>Evidence
on record from Exhibit 1, a Report of a Ministerial Fact-Finding Committee on
WVLC, tendered at the trial, is clear that the proposed merger of the companies
namely Western Timbers Ltd and Takoradi Veneer Lumber Company never
materialised and Western Veneer and Lumber Company (WVLC) never became a legal
entity. In other words no corporate entity by name Western Veneer and Lumber
Company (WVLC) was formed.<o:p></o:p>Notwithstanding
the fact that Western Veneer and Lumber Company never existed as a corporate
entity, the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) in 1996 started the
process of divesting the interest of government in the non- existent Western
Veneer and Lumber Company. As a result of the divestiture process, the
appellant herein won the bid to purchase Western Veneer and Lumber Company and
an offer was made to it per a letter dated 12th June 2007. This letter which
will be reproduced in the course of this judgment was tendered at the trial as
Exhibit B.<o:p></o:p>It
is on record that, while Ivo Fiorini fled the country after the 31st December
1981 coup, Ohene Kwofie was arrested and detained by the PNDC government. Upon
his release from military detention, Ohene Kwofie in his lifetime pursued a
claim against the government for the de-confiscation of Subin Timbers Company.
There is evidence included in Exhibit 2 that a letter to that effect was
written on his behalf by Owusu &amp; Co., Solicitors in Kumasi. <o:p></o:p>There
is also evidence on record that Mr. Ray Kakraba Quarshie initiated legal
proceedings on behalf of Ohene Kwofie at the Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). The petition was referred to the Confiscated
Assets Committee (CAC) by the CHRAJ. As a result of these proceedings initiated
by Ohene Kwofie which were pursued by his family upon his death, the government
per a letter dated 15th December 2008, de-confiscated Subin Timbers Segment of
the WVLC in favour of the late Ohene Kwofie. This letter was tendered at the
trial as Exhibit 5.<o:p></o:p>Having
secured the de-confiscation of the Subin Timbers Segment of Western Veneer and
Lumber Company, the first defendant/ respondent herein to be referred to as the
first respondent with the assistance of the Police took over the said segment
of the WVLC, which at the time has also been released to the appellant by the
Divestiture Implementation Committee. The appel</main>