ABRAHAM AJUMAKO NUNOO v. SCHOOL OF HYGIENE,TAMALE & ORS

ADJEI,J.A:

The appeal is against the judgment of the High Court, Tamale delivered on 26th June, 2014. The High Court Tamale awarded damages in the sum of Gh¢515,000.00 in favour of the plaintiff/respondent against the defendant/appellant to cover damages for loss of life, loss of prospective dependency, funeral expenses and mental distress which the plaintiff and the dependents of the late Jack Nii Ayittey Nunoo suffered as a result of the negligence of the 1st and 2nd defendants.

For the purposes of this appeal, the parties shall maintain their respective designations before the trial High Court. The plaintiff/respondent will be referred to as the plaintiff, the 1st and 3rd defendants/appellants as 1st and 3rd defendants respectively. The 2nd defendant who did not appeal against the judgment will maintain its designation as 2nd defendant.

The brief facts of the case before the trial High Court which culminated in this appeal were that the plaintiff is the father of the late Jack Nii Ayittey Nunoo who died at the age of nine (9) through a domestic accident. The plaintiff sued the defendants on his own behalf as the father of the deceased and the other dependents who are the mother and three siblings of the deceased. The 1st defendant engaged the services of the 2nd defendant to construct a toilet facility for the use of its students at a site on its campus. The 2nd defendant was told by the 1st plaintiff to relocate the site at which the pit was constructed to another place as the place was not suitable. The 2nd defendant obliged and when it decided to refill or recondition it, the 1st defendant told the 2nd defendant to leave it for the collection of refuse and waste. The late Jack Nii Ayittey Nunoo, then aged nine (9), went to the school premises of the 1st defendant with his friends to visit a friend who was living in the school with his parents. The deceased and his friend fell into the pit which had not been covered and was full of water.

The pit was approximately 12 feet wide, 24 feet long and 14 feet deep and was close to where children and other people in the community might have access. Local divers were invited to save the lives of the two children who had fallen into the pit but the deceased was pronounced dead after having been rushed to Tamale Teaching Hospital. The other child survived the accident. The plaintiff therefore sued the 1st defendant as the owner of the premises in which the pit was constructed and abandoned without taking int