WILLIAM AMUNA VS REHOBOTH PROPERTIES LTD
July 10, 2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE PATRICK BAAYEH (J)
Areas of Law
- Contract Law
- Evidence Law
July 10, 2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
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The Plaintiff mounted this action against the Defendant on 6th February, 2020 claiming the reliefs endorsed on the writ of summons as; i. Delivery of the three-bedroom house with all rooms ensuite with an outer house on plot No. 107 measuring seventy by seventy- five feet (70 x 75 ft)situate at Rehoboth Hills, Oyarifa, Accra.
In the alternative the prevailing market value of a comparable house at the same location.
Lost profits in the nature of accrued or lost rents from 1st January, 2018 to the final date of payment.
Damages for breach of contract v. Cost including legal fees The Defendant upon entering appearance also filed it Defence.
The case of the Plaintiff is rather simple and does not admit of any complicities.
The Plaintiff is a retired civil servant whiles the Defendant and an estate development company registered under the laws of Ghana and is engaged in the business of developing and selling of real estate properties.
Plaintiff avers that sometime in 2015, he entered into a contract with the Defendant for the purchase of a three-bedroom basement house with all the rooms ensuite with an outer house on plot number 107 measuring 70 foot by 75 foot at Rehoboth Hills, Oyarifa, Accra.
The parties agreed on a purchase price of USD 195, 000. 00. Plaintiff was required under the contract to make an initial deposit of USD 15, 000. 00 at the execution of the contract and to pay the difference ten tranches which Plaintiff duly paid and Defendant acknowledged receipts of all payments.
It is Plaintiff’s case that he made the Defendant aware that he needed the house urgently because he due to retire and needed the house as his dwelling house.
It is Plaintiff’s case that three years after he fully paid for the house, the Defendant has failed or refused to deliver the house to him.
That several demands made on the Defendant to meet it obligation under the contract made yielded no results of the Defendants failure to deliver the house to him he has been compelled to find attractive accommodation upon his retirement from the Public Service since 2017 at a cost which could have been avoided if Defendant had delivered on its promise.
That the failure of the Defendant to deliver that house to him has cost him a lot in terms of payments in the nature of accrued rent.
In its Defence the Defendant admits virtually the entire case of the Plaintiff except to say that; “ though the construction of the house to delayed a little due to some unforeseen topographi
AI Generated Summary
Justice Patrick Baayeh (High Court) decided a contractual dispute between a retired civil servant and an estate developer over a three-bedroom basement house with an outhouse on Plot No. 107 at Rehoboth Hills, Oyarifa, Accra. Under a November 2015 sales and purchase agreement priced at USD 195,000, the buyer paid a USD 15,000 deposit and completed the remaining USD 180,000 in ten tranches by December 2016. The developer was obligated to deliver within 12 months but did not. Despite apologetic correspondence proposing “new timelines,” the purchaser rejected postponements, and June 2020 photographs showed an unfinished shell. Applying the Evidence Act and burden-of-proof rules, and noting the developer’s admission under cross-examination, the court held the developer in breach. Specific performance was impracticable; the court ordered restitution of USD 195,000 with interest from December 2016 at the Bank of Ghana dollar rate, awarded GHS 500,000 general damages, denied claimed lost rents for lack of proof, and granted costs of GHS 50,000.