KWABENA ABU (SUBST. BY) CHRISTIANA DANSO vs. MICHAEL DANSO & OR [2015]DLHC8518

Date	2015-06-26
Suit No.	C8/80/11
Citation No.	[2015]DLHC8518

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON

E. A. ANSAH FOR PLAINTIFF

FRANK OTOO FOR THE DEFENDANTS

[2015]DLHC8518
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >KWABENA ABU (SUBST. BY)
CHRISTIANA DANSO<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>MICHAEL DANSO &amp; OR<o:p></o:p>[HIGH
COURT, KUMASI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm">

C8/80/11&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; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE: 26TH
JUNE, 2015<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>E. A. ANSAH FOR PLAINTIFF <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

FRANK OTOO FOR THE
DEFENDANTS<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

HIS
LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON<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;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>The original plaintiff in this suit
passed away and was substituted by the current plaintiff who is his sister and
customary successor. According to the original plaintiff, on 31st
July, 2008, he attended a funeral at Dixcove and on his way back to Obuasi
where he lived, the vehicle in which he was travelling got involved in an accident.
He asserted that the accident occurred because the driver of the vehicle, who
is the first defendant herein, was over speeding and as a result the front
tyres of the vehicle burst and it landed in a ditch. He said he became
unconscious and only gained consciousness at Takoradi Hospital but was referred
to Obuasi Logi Hospital and then to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in
Kumasi where he was admitted for two months and two weeks. Indeed, Komfo Anokye
Teaching Hospital issued a medical report on the deceased plaintiff confirming
he was gravely injured in the accident. The report, which is in evidence as
exhibit ‘A’ assessed the injuries to be so serious that it indicated it
amounted to a hundred percent disability. Dr. James Asensu Barnie, a medical
officer at AGC Hospital, Obuasi, who attended to the plaintiff, indicated condition
after the accident that “he was paralyzed
waist down. He was on catheter and had sores of the buttocks and he could not defecate
on his own. He needed adult diapers all the time”. It was for these reasons
that he claimed against the defendants in his amended writ of summons of
10/04/13 “special and general damages as
a result of the accident involving vehicle No. AS 3262 S which occurred on
31/7/2008 at Nkwanta near Nsuaem on Agona Nkwanta-Tarkwa motor road consequent
upon the careless and negligent driving of the 1st defendant then in
charge of 2nd defendant’s vehicle No. AS 3262 S.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>According to the plaintiff, who said he
was twenty-one years old at the time of the accident, was a galamsey operator,
a farmer and a welder and he earned an income of GH¢500.00 monthly from these engagements.
He asserted he was a married man with two children whose ages were very close:
the older was two years and the younger one year. He averred he was a member of
a local football team and danced regularly in church. Apparently from the
injuries sustained in the accident he could no longer undertake any of the
activities he involved himself in before the accident. He therefore prayed for
general damages as well as special damages which he pleaded and particularized
amounting to GH¢13,496.00.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It was only the first defendant who
contested the action. It turned out that the plaintiff and first defendant are half-brothers
of the same father but different mothers. The first defendant also adduced
evidence that the vehicle that got involved in the accident belongs to him
contrary to the assertion of the plaintiff that it is owned by second defendant
but driven by the first defendant for which reason he sued the defendants
together. The first defendant told the court the second defendant had travelled,
presumably, out of jurisdiction of the court. <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Be that as it may, the first defendant
denied most of the assertions of the plaintiff, particularly the allegation of negligence,
made against him at the time of the accident. In paragraph 6 of his defence, he
pleaded the cause of the accident as follows:<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>“The
1st defendant denies paragraphs 8 and 10 of the statement of claim
and say that there was a puncture/blast of the front tyre which resulted in the
accident”.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In effect, the assertion of over
speeding as the cause of the accident was denied by the first defendant.
Consequently, the foremost issue that has to be resolved is whether or not the
accident occurred as a result of the negligence of the first defendant. The
reliefs of general and special damages may only be sustained if this issue is
resolved in favour of the plaintiff, which is the prayer of his lawyer.<o:p</main>