ABDUL LATIF JOJO

A joint appellate judgment by Webb, C.J., Butler Lloyd, Ag.C.J., and Strother-Stewart, J., reviews a lease dispute over Lucetta House on Selwyn Market Street, Accra. The plaintiff sought specific performance of a 17 July 1937 agreement to lease the premises for twenty years at per year with three years rent in advance. The court read the parties 17 July letters as confirming an already concluded verbal agreement and found no material difference between the plaintiffs conditions and Coles details, including equivalent language making payment due upon execution. Rejecting the trial courts view, the appellate bench held time was not of the essence and the plaintiffs short delay in tendering 600 did not constitute abandonment. Because Messrs. Bardawil & Co., who later obtained a lease, lacked notice of the plaintiffs contract, the court denied specific performance, instead remitting the case for assessment of damages against Cole. The appeal was allowed, the lower judgment reversed, and costs were awarded to the plaintiff below and on appeal.