The Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling of the High Court in the case of UniBank vrs Dr Duffour and nine others for Nii Amanor Dodoo to act as the receiver.
A unanimous judgment read by Justice Mrs Margaret Welbourne, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, said the grounds of appeal contained “arguable points of law”.
The Court also ruled that UniBank, acting through the receiver as its legal representative, had demonstrated that there were “exceptional circumstances” supporting the suspension of the High Court’s ruling, including the impact the ruling could have on the entire financial sector.
In the now-suspended ruling, the High Court had held that the appointment of Nii Dodoo as receiver of UniBank Ghana Limited was void and of no effect.
In the civil case to recover over GHS5.7 Billion from Dr Kwabena Duffour and the other defendants, the High Court granted an application by Dr Duffour and the other defendants and struck out UniBank’s case against them.
They argued that Nii Dodoo should not have accepted Bank of Ghana’s appointment as a receiver for UniBank on the basis that he worked for less than two years on the team of the Official Administrators of UniBank.
The UniBank, acting through the receiver as its legal representative, appealed against the decision on June 28, 2021 and filed an application for Stay of Execution.
It argued that the High Court’s ruling was likely to be reversed on appeal and a successful appeal rendered useless if (while the appeal was pending) Dr Duffour, the other defendants and anybody else relied on the now-suspended ruling to the detriment of UniBank.
The decision by the second highest court was that Nii Dodoo could continue to act as receiver of UniBank while the appeal progresses.
