GEORGE AMOO ESHUN v. YAISU LTD. & S. K. B. MATANAWUI

The Ghana Court of Appeal, per Honyenuga JA, allowed an appeal from the High Court, Sekondi, which had granted summary judgment in a dispute arising from a bareboat charter of the Ghanaian-registered vessel GRACE A (formerly M/V LEESI). The respondent-owner sued for repudiation of the charter, monthly hire of US$6,000, interest, and related reliefs; the High Court granted summary judgment on 7 February 2002 and later refused to set it aside on 15 July 2005. On appeal, the court held the action was a maritime proceeding and, under Order 14 r.13(a) of L.I. 1129 (and Order 14 r.12(a) of C.I. 47), summary judgment is mandatorily barred in maritime actions. Treating “shall not” as mandatory, the court concluded that granting summary judgment was without jurisdiction, rendering both the judgment and the refusal to set it aside void. Relying on authorities like Mosi v Bagyina and Kumnipah II v Ayirebi, it affirmed that void judgments must be set aside ex debito justitiae, that Order 81 addresses only irregularities and cannot cure jurisdictional defects, and that there is no time bar to setting aside void orders. Marful-Sau JA concurred fully; Dennis Adjei JA agreed.