SPARTAN IVES LIMITED vs SUNPOWER INNOVATIONS LIMITED & ANOTHER

Counsel for Defendants/Applicants: My Lady, we have before you motion on notice to set aside judgment in default of appearance pursuant to Order 10 of C.I 47. We move in terms of the motion paper, the affidavit in support and the attached exhibits. This application is anchored on two grounds. The first being the service of the Writ of Summons and the Statement of Claim and the second being that the Applicant has a strong defence and if the matter is determined on its merits, the Respondents would not be entitled to the reliefs being sought. The Companies Act 2019, Act 992 Section 291 is very instructive in the service of documents on Limited Liability Company. Reads out. Company is an artificial person and act through natural person. In the Court of Appeal case of Otis v Anowoh Afriq Limited, the Court of Appeal held that a class of ‘people or officers who may be deemed as reasonable people to receive on behalf of a company are the Directors, MD, the company’s secretary or a member of the company. The Court further held, ‘it is our considered view that service of a document on any other person who cannot be reasonably compared to the above named officers would not constitute sufficient service on the company. It is trite that service of documents to parties are fundamental in litigation and that proceedings against a company or a party can only commence after the service or notice to the parties, in this case, the Directors, MD, the company’s secretary or a member of the company. A search conducted at the registry of this Court shows that the writ of summons and statement of claim were purportedly served on one Prince Aseidu who has been described as the HR Manager. As per the Companies Act in decided cases, service on that Prince Aseidu, purported to be the HR Manager cannot be deemed as proper service. In the case of Ofori v Larbi [1978] 1 GLR, proceedings can only commence when a party has been properly served. We know per the rules and decided cases that you have the discretion to set aside judgment in default of appearance thus the party must establish how it ended up being in the situation why judgment is entered up against him. In our affidavit in paragraphs 17, 18, 19, 21 and 22, we have deposed facts establishing that the Applicant has good effect. We have also established that the Applicant is in this situation because he was not duly served. Indeed, the very first time the Applicant heard of this suit was on 17th January 2023 when Counsel soug