NICHOLAS AFFENYI & OTHERS v. ABOSSO GOLDFIELDS LTD

MARFUL-SAU, JA:- The fundamental issue raised in this appeal is whether or not the trial judge was right in ordering the appellant to pay adequate compensation for the farms of the respondents as a result of the appellants agreement to relocate the respondents from the village of Kyekyewere, near Tarkwa in the Western Region of Ghana. The respondents totalling 77 in all by their amended writ of summons filed on 4th December, 2003 sought the following reliefs against the appellant:-

‘’i.Compensation due to them for the farm crops lost by them due to their relocation as a result of the activities of the defendant company.

ii. Interest on such compensation from due date of final judgment at the prevailing bank rate.

iii. General damages for injuries and losses suffered by the plaintiffs as a result of the adverse effects of the environment pollution caused by the defendant surface mining activities and defendant’s failure to pay the agreed compensation as scheduled.

iv. Costs.’’

The brief facts of the case are that the respondents who were all farmers alleged that the surface mining activities of the appellant occasioned massive environmental pollution that endangered human, animal and plant lives in their community. The respondents alleged further that the air and their source of water were polluted as a result of the mining operations of the appellant. According to the respondents in view of the adverse effects on their community, appellant offered the inhabitants of the area a choice between resettlement package and relocation package. The respondents opted for the relocation package under which according to respondents the appellant agreed to pay them relocation allowance and compensation for their properties as well as food and cash crops lost to them.

While the appellant denied the alleged adverse effects of its operations on the community, it admitted making the resettlement and relocation packages to the respondents. The appellants however denied agreeing to pay compensation for cash and food crops to the respondents. The appellants relied on the Kyekyewere Resettlement/Relocation Agreement which was signed by representatives of the parties herein on the 15th October 1999 and tendered in evidence as Exhibit 4.

At the end of the trial the court held that the activities of the appellants had not caused any adverse environmental effect on the community as alleged by the respondents as they were not able to prove same. The trial court also found th