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May 16, 2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
The Plaintiff herein on the 22nd of January 2015 issued out a Writ of Summons against the Defendant for:
i. General damages for negligence.
Special damages for the medical and psychological trauma suffered by the Plaintiff in the sum of GH₵30, 000. 00. iii.
Any other relief(s) that the Honourable Court may deem fit.
SUMMARY OF CASE THE PLAINTIFF’S CASE The Plaintiff sets out his case by an accompanying Statement of Claim to the Writ of Summons, an amended Reply, his Witness Statement filed on the 30th of July 2015 and the Witness Statement of one Dr. Kofi Amaniampong filed on 11th February, 2016. It is the Plaintiff’s case that on 4th November 2014 he visited a drinking spot at Tema New-Town and bought a can of Malta Guinness.
According to him after he had drunk almost half of the content he felt a solid substance in his mouth and when he brought the drink out of his mouth it contained clotted substances.
His brother- in law who was by then with him took pictures and a video of same.
The video is Exhibit B. Thereafter, Plaintiff said he felt weak and nauseous and also had a headache and stomach upset so he asked his brother in law to quickly drive him to Jubail Hospital at Sakumono where he was examined and a couple of tests run on him.
In the course of events he was informed by the medical staff on duty that the cause of his illness was food poisoning as a result of the canned Malta Guinness he had drunk.
Plaintiff claimed that the doctor advised that he be detained but he refused because he did not want to sleep at the hospital.
The doctor asked him to drink 1. 5 liters of water to cleanse his system and Plaintiff’s case is that immediately upon doing this the stomach upset aggravated coupled with vomiting and this continued throughout the night when he was home.
According to him he later found out that all the cans of malt being sold at the same place where he had earlier on purchased the one he had consumed contained the same clotted substances.
This predicament he claimed caused him emotional trauma, severe abdominal pains for weeks and sleepless nights as such he could not attend to his private business which suffered greatly.
He maintained that the Defendant was negligent.
THE DEFENDANT’S CASE The Defendant’s case by its amended Statement of Defence filed on the 8th of February 2016 and the Witness Statement of its witness, Michael Akman filed on 9th December 2015 is that the Defendant does not produce canned Malta Guinness at its faci
AI Generated Summary
Her Ladyship Justice Laurenda Owusu of the High Court decided a negligence suit brought by a consumer against Guinness Ghana Brewery Ltd after he purchased a canned Malta Guinness at a Tema New‑Town drinking spot on 4 November 2014 and discovered clotted substances mid‑drink, documented on video (Exhibit B). He immediately experienced nausea, headache, and stomach upset, was examined at Jubail Hospital, Sakumono, and appeared anxious; medical tests were unremarkable. Guinness Ghana argued it does not produce canned Malta locally and imports from Nigeria and Togo, emphasizing quality controls, and complained that the can was not tendered for testing. Relying on duty‑of‑care principles (Nasser v Mc Vroom; Donoghue v Stevenson extended to distributors; Andrews v Hopkinson) and cross‑examination establishing Guinness Ghana’s brand promotion and advertising without distinguishing sources, the Court held the importer owed consumers a duty of care and was negligent. The Court found the Plaintiff suffered illness/fear, dismissed unproven special damages of GH₵30,000, awarded general damages of GH₵5,000, and costs of GH₵1,000.