ATTA AND ANOTHER v. AMOASI AND OTHERS

JUDGMENT OF FRANCOIS J.A.

The three respondents and the first appellant all belong to the Kona family of Sunkwa. The first respondent is the head of family and the first appellant, the twafohene, occupying the family stool. A strained relationship had existed between the parties for some time. This stemmed mainly from a constitutional difference arising from the purported deposition of the first appellant as twafohene. At the time of the incidents complained of there was no love lost between them.

Early in the New Year of 1972, that is, on 2 January., the respondents were marched off from their homes at Sunkwa to a police station at Nkwantanum, some eight miles away, on charges preferred against them by the first appellant in connection with an alleged theft of 150 bags of cocoa from his farm. The respondents were kept at the police station from 8.00 a.m. till their release on bail at 4 p.m. They had thereafter to report weekly at the police station for a period of seven weeks. Later the charges were dismissed and the parties urged to settle their differences. The second appellant was the police officer involved in the arrest.

This was not the first time the first appellant had laid a complaint against the respondents. A previous charge had suffered a similar fate of summary dismissal by a magistrate. On that occasion the charge was one of assault. The respondents however felt on this second occasion that they had been vexed twice too often and sought redress in the courts. They claimed damages: "against the defendants jointly and severally for false imprisonment of the plaintiffs at Nkwantanum Police Station on or about 2 January 1972."

[p.205]

The first respondent set out their case as follows:

“The first defendant reported to the second defendant that the second and the third plaintiffs and myself had stolen his 150 bags of cocoa. The sergeant ordered our arrest. We were taken to Nkwantanum Police Station. I was arrested at Sunkwa—about eight miles away from Nkwantanum. I was arrested at 7.30 a.m. and arrived at the police station at about 8.00 a.m. I was kept behind the counter until 4.30 p.m. when I was released to go, after I had been bailed.”

It would appear that after his first complaint of assault had been thrown overboard the first appellant became restive, as he complained:

"Whenever I got out, people hooted at me, even children insulted me when they saw me. Life was unbearable, so I left Sunkwa. I went into voluntary exile. I was away