BIZZACO LIMITED vs. ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY [2018]DLCA6174

Date	2018-11-15
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL: NO: H1/150/2018
Citation No.	[2018]DLCA6174

OWUSU J.A. (PRESIDING)

LOVELACE-JOHNSON J.A.

KWOFIE J.A.

MR. F. K. QUARTEY FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT

A. M. A. (LEGAL DEPARTMENT) FOR DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT

[2018]DLCA6174
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >BIZZACO LIMITED<o:p></o:p>[PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT]<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>ACCRA METROPOLITAN
ASSEMBLY<o:p></o:p>[DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT]<o:p></o:p>[COURT
OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<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: H1/150/2018&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &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: 15TH NOVEMBER,
2018<o:p></o:p>

A.
M. A. (LEGAL DEPARTMENT) FOR 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>MARIAMA OWUSU, J.A.:<o:p></o:p>On
5th of April, 2016, the High Court, Commercial Division, Accra, dismissed the
action of the plaintiff against the defendant.&nbsp;
In his judgment, the trial court held among others as follows:<o:p></o:p>“clearly then, alienation of an
immovable property is not within the scope of The Sale of Goods Act.&nbsp; With the plaintiff having failed to prove
that defendant misled it into coming unto the land, defendant cannot
accordingly be held liable for the destruction to the property or investment
made by the plaintiff and the latter has no cause of action against A.M.A.&nbsp; In the premises, it would be futile for the
court to proceed to vet the bill of quantity submitted by PW1.<o:p></o:p>The action of plaintiff against A.M.A.
is accordingly dismissed in its entirety.&nbsp;
I will award cost of Gh¢6,000.00 against plaintiff.”<o:p></o:p>Dissatisfied
with the decision of the trial court, the plaintiff mounted an appeal on the
following grounds:<o:p></o:p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The judgment is not supported by the
weight of evidence adduced at the trial.<o:p></o:p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The trial Judge was influenced by facts
not borne by the record and thus erred by misdirecting himself on the facts.<o:p></o:p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Despite material evidence on record,
the trial Judge erred by ignoring the defendant’s erroneous claim to ownership
of the subject matter land which plaintiff relied on to its detriment.<o:p></o:p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The trial Judge erred when he held that
plaintiff had knowledge that the subject matter land belongs to Government and
not the defendant which is an Agency of Government.<o:p></o:p>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The trial Judge erred in not finding
the defendant liable having found that they did not have the legal and
equitable right to assign the land to plaintiff.<o:p></o:p>6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The trial Judge erred in dissociating
the defendant an Agency of Government from Government and thereby exonerating
them from liability.<o:p></o:p>The
relief sought from the Court of Appeal is to set aside the judgment and to
enter judgment for the plaintiff/appellant.<o:p></o:p>Before
dealing with the arguments advanced in support of this appeal, I will give a
brief background of the case.<o:p></o:p>By
its amended writ of summons, the plaintiff claims against the defendant the
following:<o:p></o:p>i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An amount of Gh¢486,190.19 being the
total amount expended by the plaintiff on its business operations on the
aforesaid land from the date when the land was given it to the date of the
final demolition.<o:p></o:p>ii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interest on same at the prevailing bank
rate from the date of the issuance of this suit to the date of final payment of
same.<o:p></o:p>iii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Costs incurred by the plaintiff inclusive
of legal fees.<o:p></o:p>iv.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Any other reliefs which may be ordered
by this honourable court.<o:p></o:p>In
the statement of claim that accompanied the writ of summons, the plaintiff
averred that, it applied for a piece of land at Abelenkpe in the Greater Accra
Region from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A.M.A.) to develop and use same as
a washing bay.&nbsp; The plaintiff was initially
granted a temporary permit to b</main>