Appeals Court dismisses Areeba's application

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a stay of proceedings application filed by Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of Areeba mobile phone service, in the case in which Richmond Aggrey, a Ghanaian businessman is claiming 20 per cent shares in the company.

The three member panel chaired by Justice J.B. Akamba, also awarded ¢5 million cost against Areeba, who is the second defendant in a substantive suit filed at the Commercial Court by Mr. Aggrey, a former Vice-Chairman of Areeba, against the appellant and two others.


Other defendants in the substantive suit are Investcom Consortium Holdings S.A. of Beirut, Lebanon, and Grandview Management of Texas, United States.


The court, on July 14, last year, granted Mr. Aggrey an exparte application to restrain the defendants from going ahead to conclude a merger agreement with the MTN Company of South Africa.


Mr. Aggrey had argued that “continuing and / or concluding a merger with and / or acquisition of Investment LLC by MTN without taking into account and/or providing for the plaintiff’s 20 per cent shares in Scancom Limited will occasion the loss of his shareholding in the company by reason of the accrual of the rights of MTN Group as third party.”


Following the development, Areeba filed an application on July 24, to strike out Mr. Aggrey’s action “in part or whole” on the grounds that he failed to adhere to procedures in filing the application.


The trial court on October 20, however, ruled that the processes followed by Mr Aggrey in instituting the suit were proper and ordered Areeba to file its defence within 14 days.


Consequently, Areeba filed a notice of appeal to challenge the court of Appeal’s ruling and another motion on notice to stay proceedings pending the appeal but the trial court presided over by Justice Henry Kwofie dismissed it on December 8, and awarded ¢10 million cost against Areeba.

When the application was heard at the Court of Appeal, Grandview Management who is the third defendant in the substantive suit and represented by their counsel, Mr. Thaddeus Sory, come to the court to associate itself with Mr. Aggrey’s position by arguing that its co-defendant’s application (Areeba) was designed to delay the proceedings at the trial court.

Reading the court’s unanimous decision on behalf of the panel on Tuesday, Justice Marful Sau, said Investcom and Grandview who are outside the court’s jurisdiction should have complained about the precedure adopted by the trial court and not Areeba.

The panel which also included Justice Osafo Sampong held that Areeba could not show any special circumstances to enable the court to ask the Commercial Court to strike out Mr. Aggrey’s application.

Furthermore the second highest court on the land held that the appellant could not show the irretrievable damage that they would suffer if the appeal suceeds.

Meanwhile Areeba has indicated its intention to challnge the Court of Appeal’s ruling at the Supreme Court.