GIBRINE ADAM VS JOHN BOYE BOTCHWAY
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE K. A. OFORI ATTA
Areas of Law
- Contract Law
- Civil Procedure
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
In 2011, Plaintiff, a businessman, agreed to purchase property from Defendant who was in financial difficulty. Plaintiff paid 225,000 Ghana Cedis as part of the purchase price. Defendant failed to refund the money or transfer possession of the property, leading Plaintiff to sue for specific performance, recovery of possession, damages, and costs. Defendant did not contest the claims in court, leading to a default judgment in favor of Plaintiff. The court awarded Plaintiff specific performance of the contract, possession of the property, and general damages of 25,000 Ghana Cedis.
On 21st day of May, 2014, the Plaintiff caused to be sued out of the Registry of this Court a Writ of Summons accompanied by a Statement of claim against the Defendant.
The writ was endorsed with the following reliefs: -(a) An order for the specific performance of the contract between the parties for the sale by the Defendant of all that four (4) No. Single Storey Sand Crete Block Residential Building with a detached outhouse situate at Nungua, behind Kantamanto – Accra; (b) An order for the recovery of possession of the said block.
c) General damages and(d) Cost. In the alternative, the Plaintiff claimed: -(a)Recovery of the sum of Two Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢225, 000. 00) being the amount of money taken from the Plaintiff by the Defendant as part-payment of the purchase Price for 4 No. Single Storey Sand Crete Block Residential Buildings situate at Nungua behind Kantamanto, Accra(b)General damages for breach of contract and(c) Cost Upon the service of the processes on the Defendant he neglected to file an appearance whereupon Judgment in Default was entered against him and the matter set down for assessment of damages.
From the statement of claim and his testimony the Plaintiff’s case is that he at all material times is/was a businessman and President of Zenith University College and owner of the Zenith College Hostels.
In 2011 he was introduced to the Defendant by a mutual friend.
The Defendant is a businessman and resides at Nungua, Accra.
The Defendant later told Plaintiff that he was going through some financial difficulties due to the delay in the payments for certain contracts he was executing for some institutions including the University of Ghana.
He added he was making efforts to raise money to complete the contract and needed some financial assistance from Plaintiff.
The Defendant said if the Plaintiff was interested in renting or purchasing Defendant’s immovable property at Nungua to accommodate his workers he was prepared to offer same to the Plaintiff.
The Defendant again produced a valuation report on the property for the determination of the purchase price.
It was tendered in evidence as Exhibit ‘A’. The Plaintiff expressed interest in the proposal and agreed to purchase the property.
However, Plaintiff granted Defendant an option to refund any part of the purchase price paid by the Plaintiff within an agreed period and call off the deal if he received the payments for the contracts he had undertaken in