THE REPUBLIC vs. KUMASI METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY AND KOJO BONSU EX PARTE; KWABENA OBENG PLOT 17 BLOCK ‘A’ NEWBREMAN-KUMASI AND ERIC AKWASI PREMPEH OF PLOT 24 KROFROM-KUMASI [2016]DLCA4667

THE REPUBLIC vs. KUMASI METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY AND KOJO BONSU EX PARTE; KWABENA... [2016]DLCA4667

Date	2016-04-13
Suit No.	SUIT NO.: H1/42/2016
Citation No.	[2016]DLCA4667

AYEBI J.A. (PRESIDING)

TORKORNOO J. A.

DOMAKYAAREH J. A.

KWASI AFRIFA FOR APPLICANTS/APPELLANTS

THADDEUS SORY FOR RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS

[2016]DLCA4667
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>KUMASI METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>AND
KOJO BONSU<o:p></o:p>EX
PARTE; KWABENA OBENG PLOT 17 BLOCK ‘A’
NEWBREMAN-KUMASI (APPLICANTS/APPELLANTS)
AND ERIC AKWASI PREMPEH OF PLOT 24<o:p></o:p>KROFROM-KUMASI<o:p></o:p>[COURT
OF APPEAL, KUMASI]<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">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:
auto;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">SUIT NO.: H1/42/2016&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &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:
13TH APRIL, 2016<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;mso-fareast-font-family:
Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;">KWASI
AFRIFA FOR APPLICANTS/APPELLANTS<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">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:
justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;">THADDEUS SORY FOR RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>AYEBI
J.A. (PRESIDING), TORKORNOO J. A., DOMAKYAAREH J. A.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;border-right:none;
padding:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" 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>TORKORNOO,
J. A:<o:p></o:p>The Respondents/Respondents are a
Metropolitan Assembly and its Chief Executive. The Applicants/Appellants are Associations
of Traders that conduct their business in the Kumasi Metropolis. The Appellants
sued the Respondents on 25th June 2015 claiming some twelve reliefs
– all attacking the manner in which the Respondents were executing two projects
– the construction of Kejetia Bus Terminal and rehabilitation of the Kumasi
Central Market Project. The Statement of Claim and Writ of Summons can be found
from pages 10 to 21 of the Records of Appeal (ROA). <o:p></o:p>It was part of their complaints that
the projects were being done outside the purview of the Urban Roads Department
and the Ashanti City Engineer Unit of KMA. The Appellants urged that the
projects were being surreptitiously executed by the KMA with a view to
overreaching the Appellants and depriving them of their livelihood. They
claimed that they had financed and built shops within the Kejetia Bus Terminal
and therefore had to be given adequate and sufficient compensation before any
demolition of the said shops as part of the projects being complained about
could be done. They claimed that the threatened demolition constituted an
infringement of their proprietary rights in the shops and the failure to
compensate them before demolishing same constituted an infringement of their
constitutional right to compensation.<o:p></o:p>On the same 25th June 2015,
the Appellants filed an application for interlocutory injunction to restrain
the Respondents and their agents etc. from ‘in
any manner whatsoever interfering with the Plaintiffs right title interest and
possession of the subject matter of the suit and especially seeking to remove
the Plaintiffs from their present position and in particular from commencing
the Kejetia Bus Terminal Project pending the hearing and determination of the
suit’.<o:p></o:p>The Appellants urge that they served
the Writ and application for interlocutory injunction via DHL on the same 25th
June 2015. The record of service was attached to the application for contempt
as exhibits B and B1 and can be found on pages 22 and 23 of the ROA. The DHL
record shows that the package emanated from the Registrar of the High Court and
was addressed to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and Honorable Kojo Bonsu. <o:p></o:p>On 30th June 2015, the Appellants
filed an application to commit the Respondents for contempt on the grounds that
they had brought the administration of justice into irreparable disrepute by
their deliberate conduct of disregarding ‘…the
pendency of the application for injunction before the High Court, Kumasi
against them filed and served on them on the 25th of June 2015&nbsp; by their acts of barricading the entrance to
the Kejetia Terminal thus preventing the Plaintiffs from making ingress into
their trading places for purposes of conducting business’.&nbsp; This application for contempt was fixed to be
heard on 8th July 2015. <o:p></o:p>On 16<s</main>