GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION vs. YEKSON EMMANUEL KUGBLENU [2018]DLCA4879

GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION vs. YEKSON EMMANUEL KUGB... [2018]DLCA4879

Date	2018-03-08
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL: H1/147/2017
Citation No.	[2018]DLCA4879

V. D. OFOE JA (PRESIDING)

S. DZAMEFE JA

M. M. AGYEMANG (MRS.) JA

MR. JERRY DEI FOR DEFENDANT / APPELLANT

MR. DANIEL AKUTSA FOR PLAINTIFF / RESPONDENT

[2018]DLCA4879
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>YEKSON
EMMANUEL KUGBLENU<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>[COURT
OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION), ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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CIVIL
APPEAL: H1/147/2017&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;8TH DAY OF MARCH, 2018<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR. JERRY DEI FOR DEFENDANT / APPELLANT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>V. D. OFOE JA (PRESIDING), S. DZAMEFE JA, M. M.
AGYEMANG (MRS.) JA<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" 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>AGYEMANG
JA:<o:p></o:p>In this appeal the defendant/appellant (hereafter
referred to as the defendant, or the appellant), prays this court for an order
setting aside the judgment of the High Court (Financial Division) Accra,
delivered on 6th June, 2016.<o:p></o:p>These are the antecedents of the instant appeal:<o:p></o:p>Until 10th June 2013, the
plaintiff/respondent (referred to hereafter as the plaintiff, or the
respondent) was enrolled in the two-year Master’s programme at the defendant/appellant’s
School of Governance and Leadership. He was dismissed on the said date for
misconduct. The plaintiff commenced an action against the defendant at the
court below seeking a declaration from that court that his dismissal was
unconstitutional and wrongful, as well as damages of GH¢ 200,000 and costs. At
the end of a full trial, the learned trial judge entered judgment for the
plaintiff, granting the declaration sought, as well as damages of GH¢ 120,000
and costs of GH¢1,000. This is the subject of the instant appeal.<o:p></o:p>The matters leading to the dismissal of the
plaintiff which in turn led to the institution of the suit the subject of this
appeal, are as follows: <o:p></o:p>The plaintiff having been enrolled as a student of
the defendant institution in the 2012/2013 academic year, was required to pay fees
in the sum of USD8,650 for the two years. The fees were to be paid in two instalments
of at least half of the sum in the first year, and the balance outstanding,
during the second year. <o:p></o:p>On the 3rd of August 2012, the plaintiff
personally handed over a Unibank cash deposit slip evidencing the payment of
the sum of GH¢4050 (Four Thousand and Fifty Cedis) being part payment of the
required fees, to the defendant’s cash office. <o:p></o:p>The defendant’s Finance Office shortly thereafter, discovered
that the said cash deposit slip had been tampered with in this manner: the
original payment record of GH¢ 50 had inserted in front of the amount, the
numbers Four and Zero. Thus the cash deposit slip read GH¢4050 instead of the
original record of GH¢50. This curious matter was reported of the defendant’s
Academic Board which referred the matter to the Students Affairs Committee
(SAC) a procedure that was said to be in line with the defendant’s disciplinary
procedure. The terms of reference of the SAC, was to investigate the matter, and
report its findings to the Academic Board. On 6thof December 2012, the
SAC wrote to the plaintiff requesting for an explanation by close of 14th
December 2012 of “the inconsistencies and anomalies in the banking transaction”.
<o:p></o:p>The said “inconsistencies and anomalies…” were:
that on August 3, 2012, the plaintiff made a cash deposit of GH¢ 50 at UniBank’s
Rajkumar Branch in Techiman; that on August 6 2012, he presented the deposit
slip tampered to read GH¢ 4050 and obtained a receipt from the defendant’s cash
office for that sum (Four Thousand and fifty Ghana Cedis). <o:p></o:p>It was the case of the plaintiff that he responded to
this communication by doing three things:<o:p></o:p>First, the plaintiff wrote to the defendant to deny
the charge that he had attempted to defraud the defendant, and furthermore, informed
the defendant that he was the victim of fraud. In his letter, of 10th
December 2012, the plaintiff expatiated on the said fraud allegedly perpetrated
on him thus: he recounted that to pay part of his fees to the defendant, he
entered into an agreement with an organization called AGDII (sometimes written
as AGBII)Tertiary Education Opportunity based in Sunyani, with offices in
Kumasi, and in the business of giving credit facilities to tertiary students.
The agreement was for the said organisation to pay the sum of GH¢4050 into the defendant’s
bank account in favour of the plaintiff. He alleged that the organisation was
introduced to him by a friend (whose name and contact details he supplied in
that letter to the SAC). Giving further details of the transaction, the plaintiff
alleged that to access the credit facility from that organisation, he was asked
to register with the organisation by paying GH¢50 into a named account and to
furnish security for the transaction. After this, he was to collect a cash
deposit slip, being the evidence of the transaction, and present same to the
defendant in part-payment of the school fees he owed. <o:p></o:p>