KWESI AMOAFO YEBOAH VS FIDELITY BANK GHANA LTD

DODOO, JA (MRS)

The Plaintiffs/Respondents commenced suit against the Defendant/Appellant at the trial court claiming the following reliefs:

i) Recovery of the sum of Three Million US dollars (US$3,000,000.00) being the total value of financial loss suffered by the Plaintiff.

ii) Interest on the said outstanding amount from the 1st December 2013 to date of payment or judgment at the prevailing Bank of Ghana rate.

iii) General Damages for Defendant breaching the aforementioned agreement.

iv) Punitive Damages for failing to adhere to the aforementioned agreement and the corresponding loss suffered as a direct result.

v) Further or in the alternative an order for a judicial sale of any property in the name of the Defendant Company to the value of this suit

vi) Legal costs.

vii) Any further orders or other reliefs this Honourable Court deems fit.

The parties would bear the original designations of Plaintiff and Defendant as pertained in the trial court. The Plaintiff who described himself as a businessman stated that the Defendant, a financial institution on 20th December 2012, granted him a facility of $600,000.00 to construct 6 apartment blocks for sale. It was his case that the Defendant by the terms of the agreement was to disburse the said amount while the Plaintiff was to service the said loan by making 60 monthly instalment payments of $13,652.00. He stated further that, during negotiations, the Defendant knew that the loan was being secured to complete the building of an apartment block containing 6 apartments and that the proceeds of the sale of these apartments would be used to service the loan.

He contended that the Defendant breached its obligation by not disbursing the entire amount of $600,000.00 in one tranche but in instalments in the following manner: $300,000.00 in March 2013 and in spite of his protestations, the rest in October, 2013 a period of 7 months later.

He said the Defendant’s neglect to adhere to the contract culminated in him losing a buyer who had intended to purchase 3 of the apartments for $600,000.00 each as long as the 3 apartments were completed by the end of November 2013. Since the Defendant failed to release the balance of the loan until October, 2013, the cost of building the apartment blocks had increased exponentially and therefore reduced its profitability and was no longer attractive to potential buyers. As a result, he was unable to service the loan as scheduled. He complained that all attempts to negotia