DANIEL OFORI v. ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED & ORS

This Supreme Court ruling addresses Ecobank Ghana Limited’s application, made under the Court’s inherent jurisdiction, to reopen Civil Appeal No. J4/11/2016 and adduce fresh evidence after the Court’s 25 July 2018 judgment reversed the Court of Appeal and High Court. The underlying dispute concerned Daniel Ofori’s sale of CAL Bank shares to William Oppong-Bio, executed through the Ghana Stock Exchange; the Bank of Ghana’s intervention led the SEC to hold the trade failed and to revert the shares to Ofori, a position the lower courts adopted. Ecobank argued post-judgment discoveries showed the shares remained registered to Ofori and that he received dividends from 2010–2019, rendering the appellate process unfair and warranting reopening. The majority, authored by Pwamang JSC and joined by Yeboah CJ, Baffoe-Bonnie JSC and Appau JSC, held that inherent jurisdiction cannot be invoked where procedural rules provide a remedy; the proposed evidence was irrelevant to the appellate issue and did not meet Rule 76/Rule 54 thresholds, and collecting dividends pending appeal was lawful absent a stay. The application was dismissed as an abuse of process. Dotse JSC dissented, advocating reopening to address alleged fraud and fairness.