JUDGMENT OF EDUSEI J.
The plaint of the plaintiff in his writ reads as follows;
"The plaintiff's claim is for damages for loss and damage suffered by the plaintiff as a result of a breach of statutory duty on the part of the defendant. Further or in the alternative the plaintiff's claim is for damages for loss and damage suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the negligence and/or breach of duty on the part of the defendant and/or his servants."
A statement of claim accompanied the writ of summons. In the course of addresses Mr. Amua Sekyi, counsel for the plaintiff, intimated to the court and to counsel for the defendant Mr. Cann that he would not pursue his claim based on a breach of statutory duty. This in effect means that the first limb of the plaintiff's claim has been abandoned, and the plaintiff's claim has been fought on negligence.
The plaintiff's case is that in the early hours of 1 January 1969, his driver the plaintiff's first witness was driving his taxi-cab No. WR 6511 along the Axim road towards the Atlantic Hotel direction when a horse suddenly emerged from the near side of the road and collided with it, causing damage to it. The plaintiff is therefore claiming ¢1,640.45 as the estimated cost of repairs to his vehicle and ¢6.00 per day as loss of earnings from date of the accident to the date of judgment. Counsel for the plaintiff, in view of the decision in West African Bakery v. Miezah [1972] 1 G.L.R. 78, C.A., told the court to consider loss of earnings for a reasonable period within which the taxi-cab could have been repaired
The defendant was the owner of the horse. The decision in this case, however, turns on whether or not the defendant or his servant was negligent in the control of the horse. The defendant has denied negligence, and the burden to establish breach of duty of care on the part of the defendant was clearly cast on the plaintiff. In attempting to prove this the driver of the taxi-cab, the plaintiff's first witness, testified as follows:
"I was driving the plaintiff's taxi-cab No. W/R 6511 on the Axim road towards Atlantic Hotel direction. As I got near Kalmoni Workshop on Axim road, I saw a horse which jumped suddenly from my near side into the road and hit my taxi-cab. I became unconscious and was taken to hospital. My taxi-cab was damaged by the horse. I regained consciousness within one hour after the accident. There was no one riding the horse at the time; it came to the road alone."
[p.432]
The plaint
