TUFUOR v. BENG
January 14, 1963
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- APALOO, J
Areas of Law
- Tort Law
- Civil Procedure
January 14, 1963
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
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JUDGMENT OF APALOO J.
The facts of the case are singularly free from complexity and can be stated briefly. The plaintiff and defendant are farmers and owned cocoa farms contiguous to each other at Krofa. The defendant himself cultivated his farm while the plaintiff succeeded to a man whose name was given as Anyowuo. It appears that prior to the 5th November, 1960, there was some difficulty between them as to their exact boundary. On that day, in the plaintiff's absence, the defendant gathered together the cocoa beans which were presumably on their disputed boundary. These he took to the police station at Juaso and complained that the plaintiff had stolen his cocoa. The plaintiff was himself away in Kumasi. Upon his return, he was given an account of what took place in his absence. He in turn proceeded to the police station at Juaso. He was himself going to make a complaint against the defendant.
The plaintiff said as soon as he entered the charge office at Juaso, the defendant pointed him out to the police and charged that he was the person responsible for the theft of his cocoa. Routine police investigations were then put in train and the plaintiff said he was detained at the police station for five hours. The plaintiff said he met the defendant at the charge office but he was asked to retire while a statement was recorded [p.23] from him. While he was in the process of making a statement to the police, the plaintiff said the defendant again publicly charged him with theft and said, inter alia, "A youngman like me I have planted my cocoa and you an elderly person had gone to steal some." This, according to the plaintiff, provoked a rebuke from the police.
The police after recording statements from the parties decided to view the farm. This was fixed for the 6th November. The parties reported at the police station at Juaso in the morning of that day and the plaintiff ran them there in his car. When the car reached Krofa, it was brought to a halt at the defendant's request. The latter went to his house and returned with some members of his family and requested that they be permitted to join the car. The plaintiff said he refused and on so refusing, the defendant said, inter alia "You should be ashamed of yourself. You stole my cocoa and would not allow may relations to travel on your car. Have you planted cocoa before?" The plaintiff said the defendant finished this off by hooting at him, an act in which his relations joined. The plaintiff's account of
AI Generated Summary
Two Krofa farmers with contiguous cocoa farms clashed over their boundary. In the plaintiff’s absence, the defendant collected disputed cocoa beans and reported at Juaso police, accusing the plaintiff of theft. When the plaintiff came to Juaso to complain, the defendant publicly repeated the accusation; the plaintiff was detained for about five hours while statements were taken. The police arranged a farm visit the next day, where the defendant again accused the plaintiff, told him to be ashamed, and hooted at him with relatives. The circuit judge found publication but rejected slander and false imprisonment. On appeal, Apaloo J. agreed false imprisonment was not made out because police acted independently, but held the slander actionable per se since the words imputed theft, rejected the trespass framing and failed justification, and awarded £G150 compensatory damages, allowing the appeal in part and granting costs.