Per the endorsement on his Writ of Summons, the Plaintiff claims against the Defendant for the following:
a) An order for recovery of GH¢16, 300. 00 in the alternative a recovery of the disputed vehicle.
b) Interest on the said amount of GH¢16, 300. 00 from November 2017 to date of final payment in accordance with commercial bank rate.
c) General damage for breach of contract.
d) Costs, including legal costs.
Defendant entered appearance through his lawyer Oscar Kwadwo Vulor & Co.
and made the following counterclaim against the Plaintiff on filing his Statement of Defence: a) Recovery of cash the sum of GH¢7, 250. 00 being cost of repairs Defendant incurred to repair the vehicle and which repairs is still under way.
b) GH¢18, 000. 00 General Damage against the Plaintiff for loss of use of the vehicle from 7 th November 2017 till date of settlement of the matter at GH¢15. 00 per day.
c) Cost. At the end of pleadings, the following issue and Additional Issues were set down for trial: a) Whether or not there is a contractual agreement between the parties.
b) Whether or not the dispute between the parties has been validly settled by customary arbitration.
Parties and their lawyers were subsequently ordered to file their witness statement.
As at the time of hearing evidence in the case, Defendant and his lawyer had not filed Defendant’s witness statement in strict violation of the Provisions of High Court (Civil Procedure) (Amendment) Rules 2014 Rule 7A 1(3) provides: “Where a party has failed to comply with any of the directions given at a case management conference or a pre-trial review or both, the Judge may make any of the following orders: a) Strike out the action if the non-complying party is a Plaintiff.
b) Strike out the defence and counterclaim as the case may be, if the non-complying party is a Defendant.
c) Order any party to pay cost or d) Make any other appropriate order.
Applying these provisions to the non-complying Defendant, this Court struck out the Defendant’s Statement of Defence and the Counterclaim before going ahead to adopt the evidence of the Plaintiff and PW1 in this case.
Having heard the evidence of the Plaintiff and PW1 in support of the Plaintiff’s evidence, the Court grants all the reliefs of the Plaintiff as endorsed on the Plaintiff’s Writ of Summons.
In particular, the Court awards GH¢10, 000. 00 general damages for breach of contract to the Plaintiff.
Cost of GH¢5, 000. 00 awarded the Plaintiff.
Upon request
