KUNI v. STATE GOLD MINING CORPORATION AND ANOTHER

Justice Sarkodee adjudicated a personal injury suit involving a machine driver employed at Prestea Goldfields Ltd., who sustained catastrophic injuries during underground work at the Prestea mines on 11 July 1974. The court examined the structural and operational relationship between Prestea Goldfields Ltd. and the State Gold Mining Corporation established under Act 232, finding that the corporation owned the mines, appointed key managers, received operational returns, treated profits as its own, and otherwise exercised effective control. Applying agency principles and the maxim qui facit per alium facit per se, and relying on Mining Regulations imposing safety duties on the mine manager, the court held the State Gold Mining Corporation liable for negligence leading to the plaintiff’s paralysis. It rejected arguments premised on the plaintiff’s resting underground. The court assessed damages across pecuniary loss, future earnings, loss of amenities, and pain and suffering, awarding a total of 30,500, and entered judgment for the plaintiff.