HEMANS V COFIE

Acquah JSC delivered the judgment of the court. This is an appeal from the majority decision of the Court of Appeal reversing the judgment of the High Court, Accra in a suit in which the plaintiff, a 68 year old pensioner and contractor sought:

"(a) An order setting aside as null and void the purported sale and purchase of plaintiff's house No A 802/15, Abossey Okai, Accra by the first defendant on grounds of uncon-scionability and duress.

(b) An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, assigns from interfering with and in any way dealing with the said house."

The brief facts are that in early 1987, the plaintiff became indebted to a number of people. According to him, the debt arose partly from building materials he obtained on credit for his contract works and partly advances by his clients to undertake some extensions on their buildings. When he defaulted in fulfilling these obligations, the creditors reported him to the Odorkor Police. The police arrested and locked him in their cells for eight weeks. He was released and freed only after he had succumbed to pressures from the police to sell his house and the proceeds therefrom used in paying off the creditors. On his release, he filed the instant writ at the High Court, Accra against the purchaser as the first defendant, and the officer in charge of the Odorkor Police, one Superintendent Lumor, as the second defendant claiming the reliefs set out above.

In his accompanying statement of claim, the plaintiff pleaded that while in police custody, the police threatened and pressured him to sell his house to pay off the debts otherwise he would not be released. In view of his age and failing health, he became sick and weak and was refused medical treatment. With such coercion from the police, coupled with a refusal even to grant him bail to raise a loan to pay his creditors, he succumbed to police pressure to sell his house-to the first defendant when the first defendant witness was introduced to him at the police cells as the intended purchaser. He was told that the first defendant witness had valued the house at ¢4 million and that he had paid the money to the second defendant. He was then made to sign a document of transfer of title of the house to the first defendant. He pleaded further that out of the alleged ¢4 million purchase, including some documents, the second claimed that he used ¢2,083,000 to pay the creditors and ¢350,0