Court Orders Areeba To File Defence

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, 20 March 2007
THE Commercial Court in Accra, has dismissed a motion filed by Scancom Limited, operators of Areeba mobile phone service, to strike out some of the pleadings of David Andrew Hesse, the lawyer suing the company and another for breach of a shareholders’ agreement.

The court, presided over by Mrs Justice Cecilia H. Sowah, awarded ¢2 million cost against Scancom, and again ordered Areeba to file its statement of defence by March 28, for the case to take its normal course.

Mr Hesse filed the substantive suit against Investcom Consortium Holdings and Areeba on November 29, last year, and sought, among other things, an order to reverse an alleged capital increase and dilution of his shares from six to two per cent and the transfer of the shares from him to Investcom.

Mr Hesse who is handling his own case also wants an order to restore his six per cent shares in Areeba, a perpertual injunction restraining Areeba from removing him as a director as well as an order for the parties to go into account to determine the amount of dividends due him on his shares.

He again filed a motion for an interlocutory injunction to restrain Areeba from convening an extraordinary meeting to remove him as a director of Areeba, pending the determination of the suit but this was dismissed by the court on February 19.

Areeba in their affidavit in support of the motion filed on March 13 to strike out some of Mr Hesse’s pleadings in the substantive suit, had argued that the claims by the plaintiff on behalf of Scan Construction Limited which is a limited liability company was a non-party to the present proceedings since that company is a legal entity.

Dismissing the motion last Friday, the court held that "such a submission ought to be made on the pleadings. The court’s business at this stage is not to assess the weakness of plaintiff’s case".

The court further said the powers under the rule will only be exercised where the case was beyond doubt but not where it necessary a legitimate amendment will save the proceedings.