DR. KWABENA DUFFOUR & ANOR v. BANK OF GHANA
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- ANGELINA MENSAH-HOMIAH J, (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Constitutional Law
- Banking Law
- Civil Procedure
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The court set aside the Plaintiffs' Writ of Summons for improper invocation of its jurisdiction. The Plaintiffs' claims of constitutional violations and human rights enforcement were not arbitrable and required a motion supported by affidavit, not a Writ of Summons. The application to set aside was upheld, but no costs were awarded.
RULING
On 6th September 2018, Counsel for the Defendant/Applicant (Defendant) filed a Motion on Notice to set aside the Plaintiffs'/Respondents' Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim. Per the endorsement on the Plaintiffs' Writ of Summons filed on 20th August, 2018 and the Amended Statement of Claim filed on 27th August 2018, these are the reliefs sought:
a) An Order of injunction restraining the Defendant from expropriating UniBank by its purported vesting of "good assets and liabilities" of UniBank in Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited and the revocation of the license ofUniBank;
b) A declaration that the license purportedly granted to the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited was not granted in accordance with Act 930 and is null and void;
c) A declaration, consequent to (ii) above, that the "good assets and liabilities" of UniBank, including deposits of depositors, cannot be lawfully vested in Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited;
d) An order of injunction restraining the Defendant from arbitrarily and capriciously impairing almost the entire loan book, including debts of Government and Quasi- Government institutions and Shareholders' advances in the accounts of UniBank to justify its purported revocation of the license of UniBank;
e) A declaration that the purported revocation of the License of UniBank is null and void, being in breach of Articles 23 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
f) A declaration that the purported revocation of the License of UniBank constitutes unlawful expropriation of the property of the Plaintiffs' and other shareholders of UniBank in breach of Articles 18 and 20 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
g) An order of mandatory injunction requiring the Defendant to restore UniBank to private management and shareholding;
h) Any other relief(s) which this honourable court deems fit.
A SUMMARY OF THE CASE BEFORE THIS COURT
The Plaintiffs describe themselves as shareholders of UniBank. The Defendant is the Central Bank of the Republic of Ghana established under Article 183 of the 1992 Constitution. Between August 2017 and November 2017, it is alleged that the Banking Supervision Department of the Defendant carried out various audits at UniBank and came out with many findings, notably, that the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of UniBank had drastically reduced from 10.7% to a negative 24.02%, and a capital deficit ofGHCl.18 billion as of December, 2017. Subsequently; the Defendant appointed KPMG as th