DR. CHARLES KWABENA ADU POKU vs. RANA MOTORS & METAL WORKS ENG. CO. [2018]DLHC9084

Date	2018-07-30
Suit No.	SUIT NO. CM/0097/16
Citation No.	[2018]DLHC9084

HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE JENNIFER ABENA DADZIE

BRIGHT OKYERE-ADJEKUM ESQ. OF G.A. SARPONG & CO. ASYLUM DOWN ACCRA COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF

AKOTO AMPAW ESQ. OF AKUFFO-ADDO PREMPEH & CO. ADABRAKA ACCRA COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT

[2018]DLHC9084
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >DR. CHARLES KWABENA ADU POKU<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>RANA MOTORS &amp; METAL WORKS ENG. CO.<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT,
ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><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">

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>BRIGHT
OKYERE-ADJEKUM, ESQ., OF G.A. SARPONG &amp; CO., ASYLUM DOWN, ACCRA, COUNSEL
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">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
115%;tab-stops:9.75pt;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">AKOTO AMPAW, ESQ., OF AKUFFO-ADDO,
PREMPEH &amp; CO., ADABRAKA, ACCRA, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p>HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE JENNIFER ABENA
DADZIE<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 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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:0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The Plaintiff is a
medical doctor ordinarily resident in Kumasi while the Defendant is a limited
liability company engaged in automobile business.&nbsp; It is the case of the Plaintiff that sometime
in the year 2011 he bought a brand new KIA Mohave DSL vehicle with registration
number, GS 9229-11, referred to hereinafter as the “Vehicle” from the Defendant
at a cost of fifty thousand, two hundred and twenty United States Dollars
(US$50,220.00). He alleges that from the date of the said transaction he
strictly complied with the maintenance schedules provided in the Defendant’s
manual. According to the Plaintiff on March 20, 2015, he sent the Vehicle to
the Defendant’s workshop for routine servicing which the Defendant could not
complete on the same day. He therefore followed up with a telephone call to
enquire about the status of the Vehicle on March 23, 2015, where upon a
representative of the Defendant informed him that the servicing could not be
undertaken because the Defendant’s premises had been flooded over the weekend.
On being informed on March 25, 2015 that the servicing had finally been
completed, the Plaintiff collected the Vehicle on that day and returned to
Kumasi on March 26, 2015.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>According to the
Plaintiff, on the morning of March 27, 2015, it took a while for the engine of
the Vehicle to start so he caused his driver to call the Defendant’s office in
Accra to report this problem.&nbsp; The
Defendant asked for the Vehicle to be returned to its offices in Accra, a directive
which Plaintiff complied with. &nbsp;The
Plaintiff states that on April 13, 2015, the Vehicle was diagnosed and to his
surprise, the Defendant issued him with an estimated cost of repairs of twelve
thousand one hundred and forty-eight Ghana Cedis (GH¢12,148.00) to
change/replace the damaged parts, which incidentally were mostly
electricals/electronics.&nbsp; The Plaintiff,
according to his claim, authorised the Defendant to carry out some and not all
of the suggested repairs to reduce his expenditure as well as mitigate his
losses without prejudice to his right to proceed legally against the Defendant
as he was convinced that the items which were in the main electrical/electronic
in nature could only have failed as a direct result of those parts being
submerged in flood waters, when, as he claims, the premises of the Defendant
were flooded over the weekend of March 21 and 22, 2015 while the Vehicle was
there.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>On June 3, 2015,
the Defendants premises suffered yet another flood before the Vehicle was
handed over to him after the repair works on June 25, 2015.&nbsp; After he took delivery of the Vehicle, the
Plaintiff alleges that it developed further problems and was in a worse
condition than before; he had difficulty in starting the engine in the mornings
and the gears failed to change after driving continually for about an hour, a
condition known as “shift shock”.&nbsp; The
Plaintiff contends these problems were reported to the Defendant and the
Vehicle was sent to the Defendant’s workshop for remedying on several occasions.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>According to the
Plaintiff, on December 9, 2015, the Vehicle was sent to Defendant’s workshop
for servicing and the glow plugs were allegedly changed and thereafter it was
released to him upon payment of one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven
Ghana Cedis, sixty Pesewas (GH¢1,337.60) being the cost of repairs. On his way
to Kumasi on December 24, 2015, Plaintiff says he noticed an improvement in the
starting of the engine but not in the shift shock problem which persisted
resulting in the Vehicle stopping intermittently.&nbsp; So he resorted to turning the engine on and
off throughout the journey to resolve the shift shock problem.&nbsp; Plaintiff claims that he was in the company
of his son and the driver, PW1 on this trip.&nbsp;
He further alleges that at a point in the journey he had a brush with death
as the Vehicle lost self-propulsion compelling his driver to veer off the road
to avoid collision with oncoming vehicles.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<o:p></o:p>On December 29,
2015, while Plaintiff was on his way to Accra, just after Suhum, he avers the
engine suddenly stopped.&nbsp; This problem
was once more reported to the Defendant via telephone call, necessitating th</main>