JACK HAMELRIJK & ANOR v. NANIKRAM SHENAKRAM MUKHI

QUAYE, JA -

This appeal is from the judgment of the High Court, Accra, delivered on 31st July 1998 in favour of the plaintiffs therein, who are respondents in this appeal.

The facts of this action as appear from the record of appeal are that the respondents herein, had, in an earlier action in the High court, which was better identified as Suit No. 0560/94, obtained judgment for DM.31. 974. 00 plus interest, which judgment debt was recoverable from PHARCO, GHANA LIMITED, the defendants in that action.

The cause of action in the said suit arose after the said defendants, PHARCO GHANA LIMITED had defaulted, or failed, to pay for pharmaceutical products that the plaintiffs/respondents had through their company SEBSI LIMITED, supplied to them in or about 1992. In the action from which the present appeal flowed, the 2nd respondent through whose mouth the respondents articulated and prosecuted their case, justified their suit against the appellant upon the grounds that when they sought to recover the judgment debt in suit No. C. 560/94 from PHARCO GHANA LIMITED, they hit the wall because they were informed that the judgment debtors PHARCO GHANA LIMITED had no assets that they could proceed against in execution of the judgment.

The respondents therefore decided to institute action against the appellant personally because they had information to the effect that the appellant was a director and former general manager of PHARCO GH. LTD. ; that some of the goods supplied had been sold by the appellant and further, that the appellant had used the proceeds of the sale of the said pharmaceutical products to pay some employees of PHARCO GHANA LIMITED and also, that he had given some of the drugs to some workers who had been sacked by him.

Evidence led in the trial court, showed that the two respondents were “parties “doing business under the company name of SEBSI LIMITED . In 1992, the 2nd respondent came to Ghana from Belgium where they were based, to negotiate an agreement with the appellant and one Mr. Otoo (PW1) for the supply of pharmaceutical products to wit: multivitamin tablets and ampicillin procaine to PHARCO GHANA LIMITED.

Both the appellant and the said Mr. Otoo (PW1) contracted with the respondents in their respective capacities of managing director and accountant cum administrator of PHARCO GHANA LIMITED.

The parties did not finalize the contract on this first meeting.

After the initial contact, the 2nd respondent returned to Belgium.

Subsequent co