FRAGA OIL GHANA LIMITED v. EVANS BEDIAKO

JUDGMENT

MARIAMA OWUSU, J.A:

On 7th August 2012, the High Court [Commercial Division] Accra, gave judgment for the plaintiff. The Court held among other things as follows;

“In my opinion, the Plaintiff adduced sufficient evidence to support its assertions, but Defendant did not adduce sufficient evidence in rebuttal. Neither did he adduce sufficient and credible evidence to prove his assertions. From the totality of the evidence before the Court therefore, I find that on the balance of probabilities the Plaintiff’s case is more probable than the Defendant’s. I will thus give judgment in favour of Plaintiff.

Per the terms of the Agreement any failure on the part of Defendant to comply with the terms and conditions thereof shall be tantamount to a breach of the Agreement. As stated above, Paragraph 7 of the Agreement states the terms and conditions with regard to payment for products delivered to the Defendant. I find that Defendant has breached this condition. Paragraph 8 of the Agreement provides that if the Defendant breaches any of the material conditions, Plaintiff shall be entitled to enforce the Agreement by taking over, running and/or managing Defendant’s retail outlet [station] and any equipment therein until the outstanding debt including interest are fully recovered from the Defendant’s net margin after which the station shall be handed back to the customer.

In the circumstances, I will order that Defendant pays Plaintiff, the sum of GH¢64,000.00 together with interest at the prevailing bank rate from 25th August 2009 until date of payment. Defendant is to make this payment within a period of three [3] months from the date of this judgment, failing which Plaintiff shall take over the running and /or management of Defendant’s station until the debt is recovered, after which Plaintiff shall hand over the station to Defendant.

Costs assessed at GH¢5,000.00 against Defendant.”

Dissatisfied with the decision of the High Court, the defendant appealed to the Court of Appeal on the following grounds;

[a] That the judgment is against the weight of evidence.

[b] That the judgment failed to consider the computation of time with regard to the 7 days credit period in the Dealership Agreement [Exhibit A]

[c] Additional grounds of appeal will be filed upon receipt of the proceedings and the judgment.

The relief sought from this Court is a reversal of the judgment of the High Court; Accra [Commercial Division] dated 7th August 2012.

On