Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Agozie Vrs Anlo Rural Bank 2022 GHAHC 61 (31 October 2022)
Agozie Vrs Anlo Rural Bank 2022 GHAHC 61 (31 October 2022)
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PARTIES:
PLAINTIFF PRESENT
COUNSEL:
PRESENT
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INTRODUCTION
JUDGMENT
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~1~
By a Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim filed on 27th April, 2020 the Plaintiff
commenced this action against the Defendant herein for the following reliefs:
a. "Declaration that the sanction imposed on the Plaintiff by the Defendant on 20th
c. A declaration that the Defendant's decision to punish Plaintiff twice for the same
e. An order directed at the Defendant to pay all the Plaintiff's entitlements such as
salary, arrears and allowances from 20th May, 2019 till the date of final judgment.
g. General damages for the psychological pain and anguish Plaintiff suffered due to
The Defendant is a banking institution incorporated under the laws of Ghana and
regulated by the ARB Apex Bank Limited and a member of the Association of Rural
PLAINTIFF'S CASE
It is the case of the Plaintiff that prior to his purported summary dismissal he was the
Operations Manager and a Senior Management Staff who was later demoted to the grade
of Senior Officer 2 of the Defendant bank. The Plaintiff was employed by the Defendant
Bank in a letter dated 22nd December 2009 and claims to have diligently and faithfully
worked for the Defendant Bank for (ten) 10 years. The terms and conditions of service
with the Defendant Bank was governed by the Human Resource Policy and Procedure
Manual of the Defendant Bank and the Conditions of Service for Senior Staff of
Rural/Community Banks.
~2~
The Plaintiff’s case is again that on 16th April 2018, a customer of the Defendant Bank that
is Makolives Ventures a business run by Mr. Makafui Kofi Woanyah issued cheque
#000525 with the face value of GHC96,735.60 to Royal Energy Company Limited which
was honoured by the Defendant Bank. The Plaintiff says that on 12th July 2018, the
customer again issued another cheque #000546 with face value of GH122,032.50 to Royal
Energy Company Limited which was also honoured by the Defendant Bank. It is the case
of the Plaintiff that due to system failures and technical errors at the Defendant Bank, the
According to Plaintiff, in February 2019 the Plaintiff realized after reconciliation exercise
that cheque #000525 had not been debited to the account of the customer. In March 2019
he again discovered that the customer's second cheque #000546 which was issued and
honoured was also not debited to the customer's account. It is the case of the Plaintiff that
he quickly drew the customer's attention to the errors detected and furnished the images
of the cheques to the customer and instructed the Head of Finance to debit the customer's
result of same the debit of cheque #000525 was reversed pending reconciliation by the
customer. The Plaintiff says that the Defendant Bank in an attempt to amicably resolve
the matter, invited the customer to a meeting, but the said meeting could not come on
thus the customer's account was subsequently debited with the two cheques numbered
#000525 and #000546. The Plaintiff says that the Defendant Bank called a Board meeting
with him in attendance and as the meeting progressed the Plaintiff was requested by
other attendees of the meeting to excuse them which he duly complied with and after
some few minutes Plaintiff was called back into the meeting.
~3~
The Plaintiff states that when he rejoined the meeting he was informed that the Board
had decided to demote him two (2) steps down from the position of Operations Manager
to Senior Officer 2 with reduced salary. The Plaintiff says that the Defendant bank
subsequently wrote a letter dated 20th May, 2019 and entitled "Disciplinary Sanctions:
Makolives Ventures Cheque Numbers 000525 & 000546" informing Plaintiff of purported
disciplinary sanctions taken against him for gross negligence leading to loss of GHC
218,786.10 to the Defendant bank. The Plaintiff says that in the letter various sanctions
were meted out to him including suspension for two weeks without salary, demotion of
two steps to the grade of Senior Officer 2 with reduced salary and removal from the
performed his duties diligently as expected of him and was not engaged in any act(s) of
negligence and that the allegation of gross negligence levelled against him is completely
unfounded.
Plaintiff also states that he was not even indicted for the offence of gross negligence before
he was sanctioned by the Defendant Bank. The Plaintiff contends that no disciplinary
hearing was conducted by the Defendant Bank to ascertain his culpability in the cheque
matter and that Plaintiff was not even given any opportunity to defend himself before he
was sanctioned by the Defendant Bank. The Plaintiff further contends that the
disciplinary sanctions imposed on him were wrongful since same were in contravention
of the principle of fair hearing and Chapter 28 (2) and (3) of the Human Resoure Policy
The Plaintiff also says that the Defendant bank later instituted an action against the
customer Mr. Makafui Kofi Woanyah at the High Court, Sogakope seeking for the
recovery of the amount the Defendant Bank claimed it had lost. The Plaintiff then says
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that despite the unwarranted sanctions imposed on him, he was compelled to sign a
Witness Statement in support of the Defendant Bank's case at the High Court, Sogakope
with the threat that if he failed to cooperate with the efforts to recover the debt on the
account of the customer he shall be subject to dismissal. The Plaintiff says that on 3 rd of
March 2020 the General Manager of the Defendant Bank invited the Plaintiff in the
presence of the Risk Manager, the Internal Auditor and the Secretary/Administrator and
showed to him a copy of a cheque issued by Donewell Insurance Co. Ltd which cheque
is an insurance claim /payment for the alleged financial loss the Defendant Bank claimed
it suffered in respect of which the Defendant Bank instituted action against the customer
at the High Court, Sogakope. That this insurance claim/payment was never disclosed to
the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff says that he asked the General Manager why he failed to inform him that
the Defendant Bank had received insurance claim/payment from Donewell Insurance
Company Limited and the General Manager said that he could not have told Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff says that the Defendant Bank alleged that the customer used the cheque
from the Donewell Insurance Company Limited as an exhibit in the proceedings at the
It is the further case of the Plaintiff that the Defendant bank wrote a letter dated 23 rd
March, 2020 inviting Plaintiff to a disciplinary hearing scheduled for Tuesday, 24th March,
2020 in connection with the alleged leakage of the copy of the cheque issued to the
Defendant Bank by Donewell Insurance Co. Ltd. Plaintiff says that the meeting did not
come on because the Plaintiff received the invitation letter at a very short notice which
prompted the Defendant to re-schedule the meeting to Friday, 27th March, 2020. The
Plaintiff says that on Friday 27th March, 2020 Plaintiff and his witness met the disciplinary
committee and at the meeting a CCTV footage was shown to the Plaintiff and he was
asked to confirm whether he was the one shown in the CCTV footage and Plaintiff
~5~
confirmed he was the one shown in the CCTV footage photocopying a sticker and the
meeting ended.
The Plaintiff contends that the Defendant Bank adduced absolutely no evidence to link
the Plaintiff to the alleged leakage of the cheque issued by Donewell Insurance Company
Limited and that the said allegation remained unsubstantiated till date. It is the case of
the Plaintiff that at the disciplinary hearing/meeting there was no discussion about the
cheques #000525 and #000546 issued by the customer of the Defendant Bank since that
matter was closed and the Plaintiff was purportedly sanctioned for his alleged negligence
in same.
The Plaintiff says that surprisingly the Plaintiff was issued with a letter dated 31st March,
2020 entitled "Summary Dismissal" which purportedly summarily dismissed Plaintiff for
and commission of acts leading to serious financial loss to the Bank (Defendant) among
others. The Plaintiff contends that the alleged offences listed in the summary dismissal
letter are unfounded since Plaintiff was not engaged in any of such offences. The Plaintiff
contends that he knew absolutely nothing about the cheque issued by Donewell
Insurance Company Limited and that he played no role in its alleged leakage until a copy
of same was shown to the Plaintiff by the General Manager of the Defendant Bank and
that he cannot be held liable for breaching the Oath of Confidentiality and the Data
Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843). Also that the Defendant Bank's reliance on Act 843 is
The Plaintiff contends that the Defendant Bank's erroneous reliance on Section B (2) (f) of
the Common Offences and Proposed sanctions by Bank of Ghana which deals with
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misconceived since Plaintiff was not engaged in any act(s) of suppression of cheques nor
accused of or found liable for same and that suppression of cheques was not even part of
the allegations levelled against Plaintiff. The Plaintiff again contends that his purported
summary dismissal was wrongful since he had already been sanctioned for the very
alleged offence of gross negligence and financial loss the Defendant Bank claimed it
suffered and that Plaintiff cannot be punished twice for the same alleged offence.
The Plaintiff further contends his purported summary dismissal is in contravention with
Chapter 28 (2), (3) and (4) of the HR Policy and Procedure Manual of the Defendant Bank.
The Plaintiff again contends that the Defendant Bank rather acted in bad faith since it had
Limited in respect of the very alleged financial loss the Defendant claimed it suffered and
still purportedly sanctioned and summarily dismissed Plaintiff and further took action
against the customer at the High Court, Sogakope for the recovery of the said financial
loss.
The Plaintiff says that due to his diligent and faithful performance at the Defendant bank
he rose through the ranks up to the point of Operations Manager and even acted as
General Manager before he was wrongfully dismissed. Even though he was queried just
like any other employee of the Defendant's bank same was not in respect of any
fraudulent, collusive and negligent acts. The Plaintiff says that he was informed by the
General Manager that he debited the account of the customer and later reversed it. The
Plaintiff says that he fully cooperated with the Defendant bank in the recovery efforts and
even signed a witness statement in the suit between the Defendant and the customer, but
Plaintiff denies that the legal proceeding against the customer is due to any misconduct
on his part.
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The Plaintiff says that he has never made photocopies of any cheque and says the
disciplinary actions taken against him were unwarranted and wrongful. The Plaintiff
says that he tendered in his resignation letter because he was demoralized and suffered
psychological anguish due to the unfair treatment meted out to him by the Defendant
bank. It is the case of the Plaintiff that he was unfairly treated, demoralized and suffered
psychological anguish for his earlier demotion, 'reduction in salary, re-assignment and
his subsequent summary dismissal without any regards to his rights and due process
DEFENDANT'S CASE
In its Amended Statement of Defence filed on 11th January 2021, the Defendant denied
the Plaintiff was entitled to any of its reliefs and justified the disciplinary action against
the Plaintiff. It pleaded that although Plaintiff worked with it for 10 years, the Plaintiff on
countless occasions was involved in similar fraudulent and collusive acts and utter
negligent conducts that have resulted in losses to the Defendant and has consistently been
the subject of queries, investigations and disciplinary actions in the Bank. On the reason
for the failure to debit cheque number 000525 with the face value of GHC 96,735.60 issued
on 16th April 2018 and cheque number 000546 with face value of GHC 122,032.50 issued
on 12th July 2018, the Defendant vehemently denied that the reason was due to any
alleged system failures or technical errors and stated that the failure to debit the account
of the customer was deliberate or intentional and a suppression of the payment that was
Defendant further stated that it was the Plaintiff's schedule to ensure that the customer's
account was debited upon payment of cheques but he deliberately concealed and
suppressed the cheques until it was unraveled through audit and upon discovery,
Plaintiff grudgingly instructed the Finance Department of the Defendant to debit the
account.
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On the allegation of reversal of the debit, the Defendant pleaded that the Plaintiff had no
authority to instruct a reversal of the debits and same constituted grievous misconduct
contrary to the guidelines, directives and procedures specified in the Defendant's Human
Resource Policy and Procedure Manual as well as the Bank of Ghana directives to Rural
and Community Banks on Common Offences and Proposed Sanctions. That when the
Plaintiff clandestinely reversed the debits, he failed and or refused to subsequently report
the reversal to his immediate supervisor, the General Manager until same was again
discovered.
Defendant pleaded that apart from disciplinary sanctions, the Plaintiff was required to
fully cooperate with the Defendant in its efforts to recover the debt and emphasized that
the that misconduct of the Plaintiff is the cause of the legal proceedings against the
customer and that the Plaintiff, if he were a faithful and diligent servant, should have
eagerly and genuinely cooperated with the Defendant in its recovery efforts.
On the payment from Donewell Insurance Co Ltd, the Defendant pleaded that the
payment was in respect of a Fidelity Insurance Policy for the loss or potential loss
resulting from the fraudulent acts of its employees including the Plaintiff but not in
satisfaction of the debt owed by customer Makafui Kofi Woanyah, for which the
Defendant had instituted an action against him. Defendant contended that a fidelity
pursue and recover the loss or potential loss from the perpetrator(s) of the fraudulent act
On leakage of the Donewell Insurance Co Ltd payment to the customer Makolives to use
as an exhibit in the debt recovery action, the Defendant denied the claim of Plaintiff that
he was photocopying a sticker. Defendant averred that during the disciplinary hearings,
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the Defendant flatly denied ever being on the premises on the relevant days until he was
confronted with the CCTV footages that captured him photocopying Defendant's
cheques and documents. Its investigation further found that on 19th February 2020, the
Plaintiff at very odd hours sneaked into the office of the Defendant where the cheque was
filed and in the absence of the occupants of the office hurriedly made photocopies of the
cheque. Defendant then averred that it was the Plaintiff and no other person that leaked
the Defendant's cheque from Donewell Insurance Co Ltd to the customer and ostensibly
claiming same to be the payment of the customer's debt. That shortly after leaking the
cheque, the Plaintiff tendered his resignation from Defendant employment without
stating how he was going to cooperate with the Defendant to recover the debt that he
caused.
Defendant then pleaded that the Plaintiff acted in collusion with the customer which said
recovery suit against customer Makolives, leaking Donewell Insurance Co Ltd cheque to
At the close of pleadings, the Honorable Court set down the issues filed by the Plaintiff
and for which the Defendant did not file additional issues. The following issues were set
1. Whether or not the sanction imposed on the Plaintiff by the Defendant bank on 20th May,
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3. Whether or not the Defendant's decision to punish Plaintiff twice for the same
offence is wrongful.
4. Whether or not disciplinary actions taken against Plaintiff were in accordance with
5. Whether or not the Defendant bank's inability to debit the customer Makafui Kofi
Wonyah's account was due to system failures and technical errors at the Defendant's Bank.
6. Whether or not Plaintiff has involved in any fraudulent and negligent acts that
7. Whether or not Plaintiff was involved in any acts of collusion with the Defendant bank's
8. Whether or not Plaintiff leaked Donewell Insurance Co. Ltd. payment to Defendant Bank's
Despite the several issues set down for trial in this suit, the dispute revolves around the
question whether the Defendant Bank in dismissing the Plaintiff for what in their view
was his misconduct in the issues relating to Plaintiff's alleged failure to debit a customer
BURDEN OF PROOF
Sections 10, 11(4), 12, 14 and 17 of the Evidence Act, 1975 (NRCD 323) specifies the
relevant evidential rules for civil litigation. The requirement is that the party who alleges
has the burden of proof and unless otherwise stated, the burden of producing evidence
of a fact is initially on the party alleging. The burden of persuasion means the obligation
of a party to establish a requisite degree of belief concerning a fact in the mind of the
tribunal of fact or the court per Section 10(1) of the Evidence Act, 1971 (Act 323).
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The general rule on proof in law is that he who avers must prove. Where a party to a civil
suit raises issues that are essential to the success of his claim, the general rule is to the
effect that he assumes the onus of proof, whether it is the plaintiff who asserts a fact or
the defendant who makes a counterclaim. Section 11 (1) of the Evidence Act, 1971 (Act
323) provides that" ... the burden of producing evidence means the obligation of a party
to introduce sufficient evidence to avoid a ruling against him on the issue". Section 11(4)
of the Evidence Act, 1975 (Act 323) also states that “…the burden of producing evidence
requires a party to produce sufficient evidence so that on all the evidence a reasonable
mind could conclude that the existence of the fact was more probable than its non-
existence"
In the case of MAJOLAGBE V. LARBI & OTHERS (1959) GLR 190-195 at 192, Ollenu J.
quoting his earlier judgment in the unreported case of Khoury and Another v. Richter
(1958) delivered himself thus: "Proof in law is the establishment of facts by proper legal means.
Where a party makes an averment capable of proof in some positive way, e.g. by producing
documents, description of things, reference to other facts, instances, or circumstances, and his
averment is denied, he does not prove it by merely going into the witness-box and repeating that
averment on oath, or having it repeated on oath by his witness. He proves it by producing other
evidence of facts and circumstances, from which the court can be satisfied that what he avers is
true."
Kpegah J. A (as he then was) in the case of ZABRAMA vs. SEGBEDZI (1991) 2 GLR 221
at 246 states the position on proof in law to be:.... a person who makes an averment or
assertion, which is denied by his opponent, has the burden to establish that his averment or
assertion is true. And, he does not discharge this burden unless he leads admissible and credible
evidence from which the fact or facts he asserts can properly and safely be inferred. The nature of
each averment or assertion determines the degree and nature of that burden".
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To proof a fact, there is more to it than merely rehashing an allegation either by the party
himself/herself or his/her witnesses on oath. See the case of KLAH VRS PHOENIX
INSURANCE CO LTD [2012] 2 SCGLR 1139. The party alleging an issue must produce
sufficient evidence of facts, which on the whole, leads to the reasonable inference of the
existence or non-existence of the fact alleged. This is the import of section 10(1), (2), and
section 11(1), (4) of the Evidence Act, which the Supreme Court in ACKAH VRS
PERGAH TRANSPORT LTD [2010] SCGLR 728 at 736 provided clarity to as follows: It
is a basic principle of law on evidence that a party who bears the burden of proof is to produce the
required evidence of the facts in issue that has the quality of credibility short of which his claim
may fail... It is trite law that matters that are capable of proof must be proved by producing
sufficient evidence so that on all the evidence a reasonable mind could conclude that the existence
probabilities and this position of the law can be found in Section12 (1) of the Evidence
Act, 1975 (Act 323) which provides that "except as otherwise provided by law, the burden
Section 12(2) of the Evidence Act, 1975 (Act 323) explains: "Preponderance of the
probabilities means that degree of certainty of belief in the mind of the tribunal of facts
or the court by which it is convinced that the existence of a fact is more probable than its
non-existence"
The foregoing is summed up in the Supreme Court case of GIHOC V. HANNAH ASSI
CLOCUH [1989-90] 1 GLR, 14; ODONKOR V. AMARTEI [1993-94] GBR 59, TUAKWA
V. BOSOM [2001-2002] SCGLR 61, Sophia Akuffo, JSC (as she then was) in her
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judgment stated thus: "Since the enactment of NRCD 323, therefore except otherwise specified
by statute, the standard of proof (the burden of persuasion) in all civil matters is by a
preponderance of probabilities based on a determination of whether or not the party with the
burden of producing evidence on the issue has, on all the evidence, satisfied the judge of the
probable existence of the fact in issue.... Hence, by virtue of the provisions of NRCD 323, in all
civil cases, judgment might be given in favour of a party on the preponderance of the probabilities".
The pleadings of the parties to a suit determine who bears the burden of proof. In BANK
OF WEST AFRICA LTD V. ACKUN [1963]1 GLR 176-182, the Court held that the onus
of proof in civil cases depends upon the pleadings and the party who in his pleadings
raises an issue essential to the success of his case assumes the burden of proof. Section 14
of the Evidence Act, 1975 (Act 323) provides that "..unless and until it is shifted a party
has the burden of persuasion as to each fact the existence or non- existence of which is
Also the court held in the case of FAIBI V. STATE HOTELS CORPORATION [1968]
GLR 471-480 that ".. the onus in law lay upon the party who would lose if no evidence was led
in the case; and where some evidence had been led it lay on the party who would lose if no further
evidence was led". The obligation was therefore on the party making a claim to establish a requisite
degree of belief concerning a fact contained in the pleadings in the mind of the court”.
Because this a Labour related case, reference is made to the recently decided case of ALEX
ONUMAH COLEMAN & ANOR VRS NEWMONT GHANA GOLD, CIVIL APPEAL NO.
J4/67/2019, delivered on 10 March 2021, where the Supreme Court laid down the burden
this case is whether or not the termination of the appellants' appointment was wrongful and illegal
and whether or not the appellants were entitled to their claims. The law is that this action being
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an action for damages for wrongful dismissal, each appellant assumed the burden of proving the
terms of his employment that the determination was in breach of the terms of the agreement, or in
contravention of statutory provisions for the time being regulating the employment. In KOBI V
MANGANESE CO. LTD. [2007-2008] SCGLR 771 at 786, this court after citing with approval
MORGAN V PARKNSON HOWARD LTD. [1961] GLR 68 at 70, held that the action being
an action for damages for wrongful dismissal, each plaintiff assumed the burden of proving the
terms of his employment; that the determination was in breach of the terms of agreement and in
contravention of statutory provisions for the time being regulating to employment. See also
HOLDING (2). This Court further held that if a plaintiff failed to satisfy the Court on these points,
From the above, the Plaintiff having alleged that the Defendant Bank wrongfully
terminated his employment he bore the burden of proving that his dismissal was contrary
to the Human Resources Policy and Manual of the Bank, the Conditions of Service of the
Association of Rural and Community Banks and the Common Offences and Proposed
ANALYSIS
Issues (1): Whether or not the sanction imposed on the Plaintiff by the Defendant bank
on 20th May 2019 was wrongful. Issue (2): Whether or not the Plaintiff's summary
dismissal was wrongful. Issue (3): Whether or not the Defendant's decision to punish
Plaintiff twice for the same offence is wrongful. Issue (4): Whether or not disciplinary
actions taken against Plaintiff were in accordance with the Defendant Bank's policy and
procedures.
Issues 1 to 4 in the opinion of the Court, all relate to whether the dismissal of the Plaintiff
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It is the case of the Plaintiff that having been wrongly accused of negligence, which was
not attributable to him in any way and the Plaintiff like any employee in his situation will
do, who was afraid of losing his means of livelihood and as such responded to the query
by apologizing for something he did not do, same cannot be said that the Plaintiff has
admitted that he was responsible for the failure to debit the account. Plaintiff submits
that he was wrongly charged for an offence he did not commit and the fact that he
apologized for the said offence in his query does not suggest that he admits committing
the said offence. Therefore the sanctions imposed on the Plaintiff by the Defendant bank
on 20th May, 2019 was wrongful since same cannot be attributed to him in any way. That
the sanctions against the Plaintiff in the letter dated 20th May, 2019 which gave him a two
week suspension without salary, demotion to the grade of Senior Officer Grade 2 with
reduced salary and removal from the position of Operations Manager were wrongful.
On his position that his dismissal was wrongful, the Plaintiff pleaded that the allegations
commission of acts leading to serious financial loss to the Defendant were unfounded
and that he was not given a fair hearing before the imposition of the sanctions on him.
He specifically testified in paragraphs 16, 17, 18, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 37 of his Witness
Statement to the effect that he was not given an opportunity to defend himself against
the allegations of misconduct and that Defendant contravened Chapter 28 (2), (3) and (4)
of the Human Resource Policy and Manual of the Bank in summarily dismissing him as
well as erroneously relying on Section B (2) (f) of the Common Offences and Proposed
The Court has noted that prior to being invited and attending the Board meeting of the
Defendant Bank, the Plaintiff had been issued with a Query on the matter and he duly
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responded to the Query admitting his wrongdoing and promising not to repeat his
Q: The Board of Directors of the Plaintiff (sic) Bank reviewed your role in the omitted debit
A: My Lady, I was sanctioned. The two (2) cheques in question I explained to this
Honourable Court that the day of the sanction I was not given the opportunity at the Board
meeting to talk. At the Board meeting I was asked to excuse them and then recalled back,
then the Board Chairman pronounced the sanction. So at the meeting one of the Board
members stood up and told the Chairman that the Management of the office account is the
responsibility of the Audit Department. My Lady, this Board member I am talking about
repeated these three times but the Board Chairman ignored him and went ahead to sanction
me.
Q: I am putting it to you that you were already given an opportunity by way of query to
explain yourself which explanation did not satisfy the Board as a result of which you were
sanctioned, so it is not true that you were not given the opportunity to explain yourself.
A: My Lady that is not so. The query letter asked me to explain the meeting that transpired
between me and the account holder of Makolives. Under normal circumstances my witness
would have been invited and a meeting before the sanction was pronounced but nothing of
The Query which the Defendant tendered as EXHIBIT 2 on its face did not solicit any
explanation from Plaintiff as to why he met Makolives. On 16th April 2019, Defendant's
Query to the Plaintiff was to explain why the debit of cheque number 000525 was
reversed. In response to the query, Plaintiff wrote EXHIBIT 3 on 18th April 2019 to
explain the circumstances and apologized which he now says he did so out of fear of
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losing his job. He also did not call the Board member whom he says was pointing out
Plaintiff claims that he was not heard in the matter relating to the leakage of Donewell
which Defendant says was the Disciplinary Proceedings with a witness of his choice who
testified in this suit. It is noted that in paragraphs 24, 25 and 26 of the Statement of Claim,
Plaintiff’s pleading is to the effect that he was formally invited for a hearing on 24th March
2020 which said meeting was ultimately held on Friday, 27th March 2020. In the Witness
of the Defendant bank in connection with the leakage of the cheque issued by Donewell
Insurance Co Ltd and gave details of what transpired at the said Committee meeting. The
letters inviting Plaintiff to attend the Disciplinary meeting were tendered in the trial by
Defendant led evidence seeking to proof that the Plaintiff was given a hearing on the
paragraphs 11, 12 and 13 of the Witness Statement of Gideon Odei that when customer
Makolives exhibited the cheque to his witness statement in the debt recovery action, it
caused an investigation into the source of the leakage and its investigation pointed to the
Plaintiff. When the Plaintiff was confronted with the investigation findings, he flatly
denied ever being present on the premises of the Defendant until he was shown the CCTV
issue which according to Defendant is the same Committee that the Plaintiff and his
witness admitted to having attended. Defendant contends that Plaintiff was heard and
defended himself but the Defendant employer found the allegations against the Plaintiff
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Where the parties have formally recorded the whole of their agreement in writing, the
written document, prima facie, is taken to be the whole contract. The terms of such a
written contract are therefore said to be limited to the contents of the written document
page 129.
As a general rule, where the agreement is wholly reduced into writing, extrinsic evidence
will not be admitted to add to, vary or contradict the terms of the written agreement as
per the case of MOTOR PARTS TRADING CO. V NUNOO [1962] 2 GLR 195.
COMPANY OF GHANA LIMITED [1978] GLR 32, the Court held that: "The fundamental
principle of contract law was that when the basis and conditions of the contractual relationship
between the parties had been reduced into writing then the liability for the breach must be
The basis for the summary dismissal of the Plaintiff in Exhibit F according to the
Again, the penalty for the offence of negligence in the Human Resource Policy and
not the prescribed punishment within the Human Resource Policy and Procedural
Manual which is the guiding manual for the conduct of both the employer and the
employee. That since the punishment meted out to the Plaintiff is not prescribed by the
During cross-examination of the Defendant Witness on 6th July, 2022 this transpired as
follows:
Q: The same Policy Manual at the same page "73" has the offence of Insubordination. Is that not
so?
A: That is so.
Q: And the punishment for Insubordination at first instance is Written Warning, second instance
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: So you agree that summarily dismissing the Plaintiff for insubordination without any prior
warnings is wrong.
A: That is not so My Lady. In Exhibit "B" on page "81" that is the Human Resource Policy
gives Management and the Board the right to determine appropriate punishment in all
cases and the same page prescribes summary dismissal for gross or very serious misconduct
depending on the facts involved. The sum of offences for which Plaintiff was found liable
had been detailed in the Summary Dismissal letter amounts to very serious and gross
misconduct and the facts of the matter were the basis upon which the Bank prescribed
Summary Dismissal. In addition to that, Plaintiff was aware through the letter dated 20 th
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May, 2019 that he was required to fully co-operate with Management in its efforts to
recover the debt on the account of the customer, failure of which the Plaintiff shall be subject
to dismissal.
Plaintiff’s case is that before the Plaintiff could have been dismissed, he was to be given
a written warning by the procedure of their Human Resource Policy Manual but they
failed to do so. That the Defendant went beyond the powers given to it by the Human
Resource Policy Manual and Plaintiff was wrongfully dismissed as the punishment for
Plaintiff relies on criminal law to state that the law is that a person shall not be punished
twice for the same offence per the case of ESSIEN V. THE STATE [1965] GLR 44. It is the
case of the Plaintiff that the Defendant wrote a letter dated 20th May, 2019 entitled
informing him of purported disciplinary sanctions taken against him for gross negligence
leading to the loss of GHC218,786.10 to the Defendant bank to which he was sanctioned
and re-assigned in Exhibits C and C1. It is the case of the Plaintiff that he was demoted,
his salary was reduced and suspended for two weeks without salary. However, after
meting out this punishment to the Plaintiff the Defendant again in its letter dated 31 st
March, 2020 which summarily dismissed the Plaintiff stated one of the grounds for the
dismissal as the same offence which the Plaintiff has already been punished for: "a. Gross
negligence on your part, as the Operations Manager at the time, resulted in the omitted
05071220000032911) in respect of cheque numbers 000525 and 000546 with face values of
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Counsel for Plaintiff referred to the case of TURKSON V. MANKOADZE FISHERIES
LIMITED [1991] GLR 430 where the Court held that:" Whenever people were given power
by law to consider facts and to arrive at conclusions affecting the fate of human beings, they were
performing a quasi-judicial function and if the body violated the rules of natural justice the courts
had power to declare the procedure invalid, as well as the conclusions therefrom. In the instant
case, the administrative inquiry violated the two cardinal principles of natural justice, namely a
man might not to be condemned unheard, and secondly, a man must not be a judge in his own
case"
It is again the case of the Plaintiff that no disciplinary hearing was conducted by the
Defendant to ascertain his culpability in the leakage of the Donewell cheque charge
against him and that he was not even given any opportunity to defend himself before he
was sanctioned by the Defendant Bank. It is also the case of the Plaintiff that the sanctions
were in contravention of a fair hearing and chapter 28 (2) and (3) of the Human Resource
Policy and Procedure Manual of the Defendant Bank. The substance of his allegations is
thus that the sanctions imposed on him contravene Chapter 28 (2) and (3) of the Human
Resource Policy and Procedure Manual of the Defendant Bank and that the reliance on
section B (2) (f) of the Common Offences and Proposed Sanctions by the Bank of Ghana
was erroneous. In prove of his allegations, Plaintiff testified in paragraphs 30, 31, 34 and
37 of the Witness Statement on the sanctions that he did not commit those offences for
which he was dismissed and that he was punished twice for the same offence.
It is in evidence that on 26th July, 2021 the Plaintiff was cross-examined as follows:
Q: I am putting it to you that you were already given an opportunity by way of query to
explain yourself which explanation did not satisfy the Board as a result of which you were
sanctioned, so it is not true that you were not given the opportunity to explain yourself.
~ 22 ~
A: My Lady that is not so. The query letter asked me to explain the meeting that transpired
between me and the account holder of Makolives. Under normal circumstance my witness
would have been invited and a meeting before the sanction was pronounced but nothing of
Q: Do you have any copy of the proceedings or CCTV footage of the Disciplinary Proceedings
A: No My Lady.
Q: Now, the Plaintiff was dismissed for Dishonesty and Insubordination and gross negligence
and commission of acts leading to serious financial loss of GHC233,752.87.00 to the Bank.
That is so?
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And these grounds had nothing to do with the leakage of the cheque.
A: That is not so My Lady. The leakage of the cheque is in breach of the Oath of Secrecy and
Confidentiality that Plaintiff had sworn as a staff of the Bank. Also for the fact that three
(3) different staff testified against the Plaintiff during the investigations into the leakage of
the cheque it is also proof that the Plaintiff was dishonest in his dealings with the Bank.
My Lady, all these were clearly spelt out in Exhibit "F" which is the Summary Dismissal
Letter.
Plaintiff contends that the above shows that after the investigation on the leakage of the
cheques, the Defendant did not give the Plaintiff a hearing to determine whether what
they found during their investigation was true. That even though Defendant claims that
the Plaintiff was in breach of the Oath of Secrecy however his dismissal letter had nothing
~ 23 ~
On the part of Defendant, it submits that the complaints of the Plaintiff stem from a
misconception that the right to a hearing should be conducted in identical terms to a court
hearing. That all that is required from the employer is to give reasonable notice of the
allegation to the employee and give the employee the opportunity to be heard which
Counsel cites the case of LAGUDAH VRS GHANA COMMERCIAL BANK [2005-2006]
SCGLR 388 as providing a good impetus for this Honorable Court to dismiss the
Plaintiff's allegation of not being given the opportunity to be heard. In that case, the
appellant employee of the defendant bank argued that after having been found to have
proceedings and afforded him an opportunity to be heard. Baddoo JSC stated that the
written query inviting the plaintiff to submit an answer to the allegation of misconduct
and his subsequent response to the query, comprehensively complied with the audi
alterem partem rule and therefore the appellant was given a fair hearing.
Defendant submits that sanctions imposed on the Plaintiff for his misconduct were
proper as the Plaintiff has not proven that the sanctions were wrongful at all. Defendant
makes the case that the imposition of sanctions relating to the failure/refusal to debit
cheques number 000525 and 000546 and the reversal of debit were done after the Plaintiff
had been queried (EXHIBITS 2 & 3) and his meeting with the Board of the Defendant
Bank. That for his misconduct in relation to the cheques, the Defendant found the Plaintiff
to have been grossly negligent in his duties as the Operations Manager and so was
as regards the leakage of the cheque to customer Makolives, the Plaintiff was meted
contends that the subsequent acts of the Plaintiff including the leakage of the cheque and
Gross Insubordination were additional offences that he committed after the Bank had
~ 24 ~
prescribed lesser punishment in the letter of 20th May, 2019, Exhibit "C”. That the
sanctions that were imposed on the Plaintiff were properly situated within the parties'
agreement.
Let us examine Chapter 28.2 of EXHIBIT B, the agreement of the parties which specified
the scope of action of the Defendant in disciplining its employees. The provision states as
follows:
detrimental to the bank's interest, absenteeism etc shall be treated as major misconduct.
Any issue that the policy may not cover shall be deemed to be taken care of by the Conditions
of Service of the Association of Rural and Community Banks or shall be at the discretion of the
Board of Directors.
Chapter 28.3 specified that the offences of insubordination and negligence exacted the
punishment of warning and provided that besides the specified punishment, the Board
of the Defendant shall refer to Bank of Ghana prescribed sanctions for certain offences
not mentioned in the policy. In all disciplinary matters, the Defendant's Board of
Directors have a discretion, but was same properly and fairly exercised in this case?
dismissal provided the misconduct is investigated and the employee given the
on the facts involved). Management should seek advice taking these steps:
~ 25 ~
Procedure
witnesses, if any.
b. The Manager should ask the employee for their response to the allegation (taking notes
of this discussion) and allow them to have representation. The Manager should also have
a witness present. The Manager shall give genuine consideration to the employee's
c. It is still appropriate, following a thorough investigation, the Manager shall send the
Article 16 (v) of the Conditions of Service, EXHIBIT B1, which is to be read in Conjunction
V. SUMMARY DISMISSAL
a. Summary dismissal may be effected by the Bank for just and reasonable cause involving
dishonesty, fraud, willful refusal to obey a legitimate and reasonable instruction, negligence
involving the Bank in a substantial loss or in the event of an employee being guilty of proven
serious misconduct,
b. Where an officer has committed an offence for which he may be summarily dismissed he shall be
given written query outlining the offence committed and shall be allowed forty-eight hours to reply
c. Alternative penalties for the above offences which may be applied at the discretion of the Board,
depending on the circumstances and gravity of any particular case, may include the following:
~ 26 ~
2. Reduction in salary, that is, adjustment of salary to a point on the scale attached to
3. Withholding annual increment for not more than twelve (12) months.
According to the Bank of Ghana Common Offences Committed by Rural Banks and
A review of the procedure and sanctions in EXHIBITS B, B1 and G shows that the
Defendant was well grounded in summarily dismissing the Plaintiff for his misconduct
in the candid and considered opinion of the Court. The Defendant was exercising its
common law right to dismiss the Plaintiff for proven misconduct. The Defendant did not
act ultra vires in the dismissal of Plaintiff. Also, the Supreme Court decision of BANI
VRS MAERSK GHANA LIMITED (2011] 2 SCGLR 796 opines that the dismissal is
justified where there are facts to show that the conduct of the Plaintiff had become
incompatible with his faithful and diligent discharge of his duties to the Defendant Bank.
The Supreme Court held in the case that even if the finding of the subcommittee was ultra
vires, it would not derogate from the defendant's common law right to dismiss the
plaintiff for proven misconduct. Once there are facts on the record justifying the
defendant/respondent dismissing the appellant for misconduct, the fact that the findings
were made by a committee that was acting, allegedly, ultra vires, is irrelevant.
Indeed, the right to dismiss the employee who has misconducted himself is a preserve of
the employer recognized at the Common Law. According to Halsbury's Laws of England,
3rd Edition at pages 485-486, the employer may dismiss the employee for misconduct as
follows: Misconduct, inconsistent with the due and faithful discharge by the servant of the duties
~ 27 ~
for which he was engaged, is good cause for his dismissal, but there is no fixed rule of law defining
Cases such as AWUKU-SAO VRS GHANA SUPPLY CO LTD [2009] SCGLR 710,
In the candid and considered opinion of the Court, the misconduct of the Plaintiff was
not just merely alleged but was proven. He admitted to his misconduct in EXHIBIT 2 and
EXHIBIT 3 and apologized. He apologized because it was his duty as a superior officer,
to ensure that the customer was duly and timeously debited with both cheques upon
payment of the value and he had no right to reverse the debit without authority. During
that Plaintiff himself knew that he failed in his duty to the Defendant bank thus
occasioning the non-debits of the cheques and the subsequent debit and reversal of the
Q. The reconciliation which is done under your supervision, did the reconciliation capture
the 2 transactions that is cheque number 000525 and cheque number 0546 as transactions
A. No My Lady.
Q: Do you have any reason why the 2 cheques were not captured in the reconciliation done
A: No
~ 28 ~
Q: You again caused the said debit on the account of the customer to be reversed on 1 st
A: No My Lady. It was after I detected the cheque and showed it to the customer and the
customer said they will do their reconciliation, and after the reconciliation he will get back
to us. The day I went to the house that the man called the woman and asked her when was
the last time she reconciled the account that was the day the man said I should give them
some time to do the reconciliation. When the reconciliation was not forthcoming I called
the man but the man could not pick the call, I told the Head of Finance and Accounts
Department to debit the account. So when I realized that I could not get through to the
man I told the Head of Finance and Account to reverse the Transaction because I could not
speak to the man concerning the transaction and immediately I informed my General
Manager.
Q: In both instances that is debiting and reversal of the account, you failed to take or obtain
Q: It was during your tenure as the Operations Manager that cheques number 000525 and
A: Yes My Lady.
examination, Defendant laid the responsibility to debit the two cheques upon payment
Q: Can you tell the Court why these cheques were not allegedly debited to the Customer's
account?
~ 29 ~
A: When the cheques were received they were not debited automatically as a result of
system challenges. The Plaintiff also did not do the required reconciliation to debit the
customer manually, and therefore left the two cheques until it was detected through Audit
Review.
Q: And the failures of these Clearing Officers cannot be visited on the Plaintiff. I put it to
you.
A: That is not so My Lady. The Plaintiff as the Operations Manager has the responsibility
of reconciling the clearing account on daily basis to ensure that all necessary entries are
response of the Plaintiff to a query issued to him on the matter in which the plaintiff
explained his involvement in reversing the said cheque from the customer's account, after
he himself posted the debit almost a year after the cheques were paid by the Bank. This
indicates that the Plaintiff is responsible to have ensured that the cheques were debited
Q: I put it to you it is the sole responsibility of Clearing Officers to make sure that cheques
A: That is not true My Lady. Our procedures require that the Supervisor which in this
case is the Plaintiff should ensure that all clearing settlements are concluded on daily basis.
When the system failed to automatically debit the cheques, what was Plaintiff in the
position he occupied required to do? He in the opinion of the Court, had to cause the
cheques to be manually debited at the close of day and failing that through periodic
reconciliations of the clearing account. Plaintiff failed to perform this duty for close to a
year. By the Plaintiff's own statement, the bank had system failures and technical errors.
Officers of the bank were negligent having failed to manually debit the account of the
~ 30 ~
Defendant as found in the companion case, which Officers were directly headed by
Plaintiff as Operations Manager who had had an opportunity to act as General Manage.
This shows that the Plaintiff even if he had no fraudulent inclinations, did not exercise
reasonable skills and care in his dealings with the Defendant. That negligence is
attributable to the Plaintiff who was to ensure that it was promptly done. Not having
done so, Plaintiff can be said to have incompetently handled his duties. The Defendant is
a Bank which deals with monies of its customers thus its Officers have to exercise utmost
good faith and skill in their dealings. Plaintiff's testimony that he admitted his
misconduct because he felt threatened and feared losing his job does not sit well with the
For the leakage of the cheque, the Court will hasten slowly to accept that all fingers point
to the Plaintiff as the person who furnished the customer with the cheque purporting that
it was payment of the debt liability. The Plaintiff may have initially denied his presence
at the premises of the Defendant on the relevant days even though the CCTV footage
together with the testimony of DW1, DW2 and DW3 in Court showed that Plaintiff visited
the premises of the Defendant at an earlier time, entered into the office where the cheque
was filed, picked a document in a file in that office, run photocopies and returned the
document to the file in that office at a time the occupants of the office were not in. The
Plaintiff says that those witnesses were not presented at a Disciplinary Committee to
enable him cross examine them but he had the opportunity to do so in Court. His
explanation that he entered the office to pick a "church sticker" which could be true is not
however the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from his presence in a space he
no longer had free access to at a time when that cheque also leaked conveniently.
The cause of action of the Plaintiff is not brought under the statutory remedy of "Unfair
Termination" as enacted in the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651). Even if that were the case, the
~ 31 ~
Defendant is still justified under section 15 (e) (iii) of the Act to terminate the employment
on grounds of proven misconduct against the Plaintiff as well as the incompetence of the
Plaintiff.
In the case of KOBEAH AND OTHERS V TEMA OIL REFINERY; BOATENG AND
Court held as follows:...There is no fixed rule of law defining the degree of misconduct that will
justify dismissal. There is also an unbroken line of authority at common law that an employee
cannot lawfully be dismissed (as against terminated) without first telling him what is alleged
against him and hearing his defence or explanation. This is obvious. If the dismissal is lawful, the
employee loses all his entitlements. He is therefore entitled to be heard as a matter of course. For
these reasons, today, legislation and collective agreements world-wide are shifting the terminology
from "termination" and "dismissal" to "unfair dismissal." Various fact-situations are then listed
as, prima facie, constituting unfair dismissal and the onus is shifted on to the employer to show
BANK [2005-2006] SCGLR 388 it has been repeatedly stated that the right to a hearing
(where same ought to be given) does not require that there must be a formal trial of a
specific charge akin to court proceedings. It was held in Ex parte Appiah, supra, at page
759 as follows: The core idea implicit in the natural justice principle of audi alterem partem was
simply that a party ought to have reasonable notice of the case he has to meet and ought to be given
an opportunity to make his statement in explanation of any question and answer an argument put
forward against it. The principle does not require that there must be a formal trial of a specific
charge akin to court proceedings in dealing with the principles of natural justice, one has to always
~ 32 ~
bear in mind that the principles are substantive rather than procedural safeguards. Therefore the
fact that a particular formal procedure is not adopted does not itself imply that the principle has
was held as follows: “A hearing did not necessarily, at all times, involve the physical presence
of the employee before the Board of Directors to be examined viva voce. Where a Board wrote to an
employee drawing his attention to alleged acts of misconduct and impropriety and invited a
written explanation, it would be thought that the employee would have been given an opportunity
to be heard. The audi alterem partem rule would have been complied with”.
On issues 1 to 4 therefore, the Court will have to resolve same against the Plaintiff.
Issue 5 Whether or not the Defendant bank’s inability to debit the customer Makafui
Kofi Wonyah’s account was due to system failures and technical errors at the
Defendant’s Bank.
In paragraph 7 of the Statement of Claim, the Plaintiff pleaded that the failure was due
to "system failures and technical errors". Cheque number 000525 (GHC 96,735.60) was
paid on 16th April 2018 whilst cheque number 000546 (GHC 122,032.50) was paid on 12 th
July 2018. Plaintiff claimed to have realized through reconciliation in February 2019 and
March 2019 that the respective cheques had not been debited to the account of customer
Makolives Ventures. In paragraph 8 and 9 of the Statement of Claim, he stated that upon
realization, he drew the customer's attention to the detected errors and that he instructed
the Head of Finance to debit the customer's account but again reversed the debit of the
cheques pending the customer's demand to reconcile his account. Plaintiff further stated
that he was indicted for his failures to debit the cheques and the reversal of the debit in
paragraphs 10 to15 of the Statement of Claim and that the Defendant alleged that his
gross negligence had caused the Defendant loss of GHC 218,786.10. Plaintiff claimed in
~ 33 ~
paragraph 35 of the Statement of Claim that the Defendant acted in bad faith in instituting
debt recovery actions against customer Makolives despite receipt of insurance payment
that the failure to debit the cheques was deliberate or intentional and a suppression of
the payment which was detected during the bank's audit. Defendant further averred that
the Plaintiff having failed in his duty to debit the cheques without authorization reversed
the debits after their belated debits to the account. After the reversal of the debit to the
account, the Plaintiff further refused to report it to his immediate supervisor until the
reversal of debits were also discovered. Customer Makolives Ventures then stopped
transactions on the account resulting in a debit balance on the overdraft facility for which
reason the Defendant instituted debt recovery action against him at the High Court.
that for the roles played by its employees in the non-debit of the cheques, it applied for
insurance payment of a Fidelity Insurance Policy it had with Donewell Insurance Co Ltd.
However, during the course of proceedings in the action against customer Makolives
Ventures, he amended his Statement of Defence to plead that the Bank had received
insurance payment for his liability and consequently exhibited the cheque from Donewell
payment from Donewell Insurance Co Ltd was leaked to customer Makolives Ventures
and found that it was the Plaintiff who leaked it to him. Defendant then pleaded collusion
between the Plaintiff and customer Makolives as the reason for the failure/refusal to debit
Plaintiff is his Witness Statement basically rehashed his pleadings as his testimony on the
testified that it was due to "system failures and technical errors" at the Defendant Bank
~ 34 ~
that the cheques were not debited and that in February 2019 and March 2019 when he
realized that the cheques were not debited he drew the customer's attention to it and
instructed the debit. When the customer requested to do reconciliation on his account, he
In this matter, it was the Plaintiff who asserted that the failure to debit the accounts was
due to "system failures and technical errors". As such, he bore the onus of proving these
"system failures and technical errors". It is the case of the Plaintiff that due to system
failures and technical errors at the Defendant Bank the cheques were not debited to the
account of the customer. That in February 2019 the Plaintiff realized after reconciliation
exercise that the cheque numbered 000525 had not been debited to the account of the
customer. His case is that the said system failures and technical errors were admitted by
the Defendant bank in the suit the Defendant bank instituted against Makolives and
Q: So the fact that cheque number 000546 was also paid meant that the said cheque received
A: My Lady I would like to refer to Exhibit "D" which is a statement of claim in suit number
E2/19/2021 paragraph "g" of the statement of claim thereto of the Defendant Bank. It is clearly
stated that "Plaintiff says that due to Bank System failures and technical errors at the Bank
cheques number 000525 and 000546 were not debited to the account of the Defendant soon after
they were honoured until early February, 2019 and March, 2019 when the errors were detected
and the cheques were then duly debited to the account of the Defendant. This is the statement of
claim by the Defendant Bank presented at this very Court in another matter. This answers the
~ 35 ~
Per Exhibit D therefore, Defendant corroborates Plaintiff’s claim of the systems failure.
Having so found, the Court also finds that in its evidence-in-chief, cross-examination and
the defence of the Defendant, it also establishes that the Plaintiff failed to diligently
perform his functions as the Operations Manager to ensure that cheques including the
disputed cheques that were not automatically debited online, (even if there was systems
failure) were manually cleared from the Suspense or Clearing Account at the end of the
day. The evidence also established that apart from the online and daily manual clearing
the non-debit for close to nine or ten months. Below was how he answered in his cross-
examination:
Q: Who has the responsibility and duty at the Defendant Bank to debit the two transactions
A: The software the bank is using that is the T24 (name of the system).
A: It was one Wise Agbohla working as a Clerk in the Accounts and Finance Department.
He is now an ex-staff.
A: He reports to me.
transactions?
Q: So Mr George, as a diligent Operations Manager how did you treat cheques that for
some reason could not be debited or credited to the account pending investigation.
~ 36 ~
A: You leave the item in the Suspense Account until the investigation is done.
Q: When you mentioned system failure in the Defendant Bank, what do you mean by
System Failure?
A: System failure is that the system is supposed to post a transaction into a right account,
so for any reason when the system fails or the system does post a transaction, we say it is
a system failure.
Q: What is Reconciliation?
A: Reconciliation is simply trying to fish out items that are on transit to their proper
destination.
Q: So daily Reconciliation per your explanation is to satisfy yourself on daily basis that the
Q: The reconciliation which is done under your supervision, did the reconciliation capture
the 2 transactions that is cheque number 000525 and cheque number 000546 as
transactions that were affected by the system failure you referred to?
A: No My Lady.
Q: So do you have any reason why the 2 cheques were not captured in the reconciliation
A: No.
~ 37 ~
After explaining the purpose of a reconciliation and its frequency, the Plaintiff claimed
that he realized that the system failed when the disputed cheques became an issue:
Q: So for how long did you notice that the system of debiting transactions was not
A: My Lady, it is only when this particular transaction that we are contending that the
Q: So when those two (2) cheques belonging to Makolives Ventures run by Makafui
Woanyah were not posted as a result of system failure, what did you do to the said cheques?
A: I said we have a department that is responsible for clearing this cheque. These are the
people that the Defendant Bank submitted their names to APEX Bank and they created
profiles, user names and passwords that gave them the mandate to clear cheques.
A: Yes My Lady.
From the perspective of the Defendant, when the cheques were not automatically
debited, the Plaintiff had the responsibility of clearing the account that day. The
Q: Can you tell the Court why these cheques were not allegedly debited to the Customer's
account?
~ 38 ~
A: When the cheques were received they were not debited automatically as a result of
system challenges. The Plaintiff also did not do the required reconciliation to debit the
customer manually, and therefore left the two cheques until it was detected through Audit
Review.
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And it is the responsibility of these Clearing Officers to make sure that cheques issued
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And the failures of these Clearing Officers cannot be visited on the Plaintiff. I put it to
you.
A: That is not so My Lady. The Plaintiff as the Operations Manager has the responsibility
of reconciling the clearing account on daily basis to ensure that all the necessary entries
the response of the Plaintiff to a query issued to him on the matter in which the Plaintiff
explained his involvement in reversing the said cheque from the customer's account, after
he himself posted the debit almost a year after the cheques were paid by the Bank. This
indicates that the Plaintiff is responsible to have ensured that the cheques were debited
Q: I put is to you that it is the sole responsibility of the Clearing Officers to make sure that
cheques are cleared and accounts properly debited every single day.
A: That is not true My Lady. Our procedures require that the Supervisor which in this
case is the Plaintiff should ensure that all clearing settlements are concluded on daily basis.
~ 39 ~
For issue 5 therefore, The Court makes a finding that whilst there was systems failure
within the Defendant bank on their own showing, the corrective stop gap manual process
to correct this, supervised by Plaintiff and the staff under him did not kick in due to
Issue 6 Whether or not Plaintiff has involved in any fraudulent and negligent acts that
The Defendant alleges that the Plaintiff was found liable for dishonesty and
insubordination and also liable for gross negligence and commission of acts leading to
serious financial loss to the bank. Under cross examination of Gideon Odei the
Q: Can you tell the Court why these cheques were not allegedly debited to the
Customer's account?
A: When the cheques were received they were not debited automatically as a result of system
challenges. The Plaintiff also did not do the required reconciliation to debit the customer
manually, and therefore left the two cheques until it was detected through Audit Review.
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And it is the responsibility of these Clearing Officers to make sure that cheques issued are
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And the failure of these Clearing Officers cannot be visited on the Plaintiff. I put it to you.
A: That is not so My Lady. The Plaintiff as the Operations Manager has the responsibility of
reconciling the clearing account on daily basis to ensure that all the necessary entries are
correctly passed. In paragraph "7" of my Witness Statement I refer to Exhibit "3" which
is the response of the Plaintiff to a query issued to him on the matter in which the Plaintiff
~ 40 ~
explained his involvement in reversing the said cheque from the customer's account, after
he himself posted the debit almost a year after the cheques were paid by the Bank. This
indicates that the Plaintiff is responsible to have ensured that the cheques were debited
Q: I put it to you that it is the sole responsibility of the Clearing Officers to make sure that
cheques are cleared and accounts properly debited every single day.
A: My Lady our procedures require that the Supervisor which in this case is the Plaintiff
should ensure that all clearing settlements are concluded on a daily basis.
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: If there are any anomalies in the operations of the Bank, it is their duty to detect them as
early as possible.
A: That is so My Lady.
Q: And the failure of all these officers cannot be blamed on the Plaintiff. I am putting that to
you.
A: That is not so My Lady. For two reasons, first of all when there is collusion and deliberate
effort to conceal an anomaly or a transaction, it could take longer than expected to detect.
Second reason is that the Audit Reviews eventually led to the discovery of this issue.
Plaintiff per his Counsel submitted that the proceeding shows that the Clearing Agents
failed to do their job by debiting the account of the customer and the Auditors also failed
to detect the said anomaly however, the Defendant bank chose to visit the sins of the
Clearing Agents and the Auditors on the Plaintiff. That this is wrongful and should not
be encouraged.
In the opinion of the Court, the Court has found that Plaintiff was negligent in his duties
in his role as the Operations Manager but the Court stops short of making a finding of
~ 41 ~
fraudulent conduct as that requires a different and higher burden of proof per Section 13
Issue 7 Whether or not Plaintiff was involved in any acts of collusion with the
The Defendant asserts that the Plaintiff colluded with the customer and deliberately
concealed the cheques and that was the reason why it could not detect the said cheques
on time. As regards the allegation of collusion between the Plaintiff and customer
irresistible conclusion that they were colluding in some respects. This is how Defendant
puts its case forward that first, the Plaintiff fails to diligently perform his duties to ensure
that the value of the cheques was debited immediately until after about a year. After he
posted the debit, he reverses the debit again without prior authorization until same was
discovered these cheques for almost a year. Thirdly, when the customer is sued for the
recovery of the balance of the overdraft facility, Plaintiff complains that the recovery from
the customer is in bad faith since Donewell Insurance Co Ltd had paid for the loss.
Fourthly, the Plaintiff visits the premises of the Defendant at an unusual time to copy
some documents and denies being present at the relevant time until witnesses and CCTV
footage expose him. Fifthly, customer Makolives amends his Statement of Defence and
files his Witness Statement exhibiting a copy of the Donewell cheque shortly after
Plaintiff's unusual visit. Sixthly, Plaintiff then sought to tender his resignation from the
employment of the Defendant in the middle of the debt recovery action against the
customer and became uncooperative in the recovery efforts of the Defendant Bank
against the customer. That despite EXHIBIT 9 showing that Donewell Insurance
payment was for a fidelity guarantee for employees of the Defendant, the Plaintiff still
insist at paragraph 36 of his Witness Statement that that payment was for the loss for the
customer's overdraft facility. That therefore, the Plaintiff was collaborating with a
~ 42 ~
customer to fleece Defendant of the balance of the overdraft facility which collusion
commenced from the failure/refusal to debit the cheques on the day of payment and
extending to the period that the cheques were detected by the audit. That these cheques
were the only ones whose debits were outstanding for that long and the Plaintiff admitted
to acting on the instructions of the customer to reverse the late debit without the
Did the Defendant prove this assertion as per the standard required by law? The
proceedings shows that Defendant alleges that the Plaintiff colluded with the customer
to conceal the cheques from Makolives which case they build out of coincidences.
However in the opinion of the Court since this is criminal conduct, they failed to
substantiate their claim or lead any weighty evidence in support of same. The allegation
When Defendant’s witness was cross-examined on 16th May, 2022, the following
transpired:
Q: And the failure of all these officers cannot be blamed on the Plaintiff. I am putting that to
you.
A: That is not so My Lady. For two reasons, first of all when there is collusion and deliberate
effort to conceal an anomaly or a transaction, it could take longer than expected to detect.
Second reason is that the Audit Reviews eventually led to the discovery of this issue
Q: If you say there was collusion, who and who were in the collusion?
A: My Lady, I indicated that if there is collusion or concealment it will take longer to detect.
A: I cannot say conclusively that there was or there was no collusion. My Lady, in this
instance what I know for a fact is that seven (7) months after the payment of these cheques
the Plaintiff refused to debit the cheques to the customer's account and when it was detected
~ 43 ~
and he debited one of the cheques to the customer's account, he again on his own reversed
the debit and My Lady, I refer again to Exhibit "3' which is the response of the Plaintiff
Q: So it cannot be true that the Plaintiff was involved in any form of collusion with anyone
A: My Lady, I cannot say that the Plaintiff was not involved in any form of collusion in these
Issue 8 Whether or not Plaintiff leaked Donewell Insurance Co. Ltd. payment to
Whiles the Plaintiff alleges he did not leak the Donewell cheque to the customer, the
Defendant asserts that its investigations and Disciplinary Hearing against the Plaintiff
discovered that Plaintiff leaked the cheque. It is the case of the Defendant that the Plaintiff
leaked a Donewell Insurance Cheque paid to the Bank when Donewell Insurance was
satisfied that the loss incurred by the Bank as a result of the two cheques which were not
debited. DW1 testified to the Plaintiff lamenting to her around March 2020 about the
insurance payment the Defendant had received yet had sued the customer which Plaintiff
denied. In the presence of the Plaintiff she was asked about her encounter with the
Plaintiff and she repeated same. During her cross-examination, she confirmed again that
the Plaintiff had lamented about the insurance payment to her as follows:
Q: In paragraph 2 of your witness statement you said that sometime before March 2020
the Plaintiff approached you and said he had heard that the Bank had received a cheque as
insurance claim payment with respect to Makolives Ventures case. Is that so?
A: Yes.
~ 44 ~
Q: You also claimed in paragraph 4 of your Witness Statement that you were asked by the
General Manager in the presence of Mr. Bright Aleawonor, Mr. Sylvester Atsu Bedzra
and the Plaintiff, if the Plaintiff had enquired of the receipt of the insurance payment claim
cheque.
A: That is so My Lady,
Q: The Plaintiff denied ever asking you or telling you any issue concerning the payment
of claim by insurance.
The Defendant's witness Grace Vormanor who claimed to have seen the Plaintiff come to
the office between 6 am and 7 am but gave evidence that she did not witness what the
Under cross examination of the Defendant Witness Felicia Deku who the Defendant
claims is an eyewitness to Plaintiff taking the said Donewell cheque the following ensued:
Q: In paragraph "3" of your Witness Statement you stated that "the Plaintiff was in the office
for a while and when I peeped to see what the Plaintiff was doing I saw that he was
Q: The Plaintiff did not tell you that he was in the office to search for any document. Is that
A: No My Lady.
Q: So how did you come to the conclusion that the Plaintiff was searching for a document.
A: My Lady, when the Plaintiff came to the office, he went to another office which is not his
office, because of that I hid to see what the Plaintiff was going to do so after that I saw that
he took a file and was searching for something in the file. He took something from the file
Q: And you did not see the something he took away. Did you?
~ 45 ~
A: No, I did not see what it was.
Q: So, I put it to you that the Plaintiff went to that office where he in to pick his sticker.
Per the proceedings above, there is no conclusive evidence that it was the Plaintiff who
leaked the said Donewell Insurance Cheque. None of the witness saw the Plaintiff take
the said Donewell Insurance cheque. It is the case of the Defendant that a CCTV camera
captured the Defendant photocopying a document but there is no evidence to show that
Q: Now, from the footage there is nothing to show that the Plaintiff had taken any cheque.
A: That is not so My Lady. The footage shows the Plaintiff entering the Finance and Accounts
office, coming out and to the Banking Hall and removing from his back pocket a cheque,
working around the photocopier making copies and then returning to deposit the said
cheque back in the Finance and Accounts office. When Plaintiff was confronted with the
footage he then admitted entering the Finance and Accounts Office but said he went there
to pick a sticker which he had left in that office at the time he was in charge of supervising
that department. Both he and his Witness could not provide the Committee with any
consistent information regarding the said sticker even though both of them agreed that they
belong to the same church or religious group whose sticker he had gone back to pick and
neither could the Plaintiff provide any answer as to why he would have returned the sticker
to the Finance Office nor could he justify why he had to go into that office and search
through another officer's documents in the officer's absence at a time when there was no
one in the office to give him permission. Therefore, the evidence before the Committee
proved that Plaintiff had an interest in the cheque. It is also important to note that by the
timelines between the video footage and when the customer who was a Defendant in the
case the Bank had filed at Court to retrieve the debt he owed and had used a copy of that
~ 46 ~
cheque as an exhibit in the case. It became evident that Plaintiff had leaked that cheque to
the customer as he soon after tendered in his resignation but did not indicate how he was
going to co-operate with the Bank in its recovery effort. The Committee therefore concluded
that Plaintiff was aiding the customer and thus he was frustrating the Bank's effort to
Q: Can you tell the Court what is written on the item the Plaintiff allegedly picked from that
office?
A: No My Lady.
The above proceedings goes to show that none of the witnesses of the Defendant could
say for a fact that they saw the Plaintiff photocopying a cheque. They allege that the
CCTV camera captured the Plaintiff making a photocopy but none of them saw the
Plaintiff photocopying the said cheque and the CCTV camera did not also show the
Plaintiff photocopying the said cheque. The Defendant could not give any evidence to
support the allegation that it was the Plaintiff who leaked the Donewell Insurance
Company cheque.
The Court which watched the CCTV footage in open Court will have to hold that the
Defendant's allegation that it was the Plaintiff who leaked the Donewell insurance cheque
is without basis. The Court agrees that provisions of the Evidence Act, 1975 (NRCD 323)
namely sections 13, 14 and 15 of NRCD 323 are inapplicable to the hearings before
internal disciplinary committee but when as in this case an issue is set down that borders
on fraud or criminality, the one that alleges same must prove same as per said sections,
with the higher burden but same was not done in this instance..
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In the case of ARKORFUL V STATE FISHING CORPORATION [1991] 2 GLR 348 the
court held as follows: "On the authorities, where a servant had been wrongfully dismissed from
his contract of employment, damages were to be measured by the amount of salary which the
servant had been prevented from earning by reason of the wrongful dismissal. The plaintiff was
therefore entitled to (i) all his salaries calculated from the date of his interdiction to the date of
judgment; (i) payment of three months' salary in lieu of proper notice; and (il) all his end of service
awards calculated from the date of his interdiction up to the date of judgment. The calculation of
his entitlements should be reckoned on the substantive post he held at his dismissal. He was also
entitled to damages for prospective loss of promotion and loss of employment. He had been kept
out of his employment for over ten years. If he had stayed in his job he would have earned his
promotion".
In this case, the issues 1 to 5 were resolved against Plaintiff whom the Court found was
negligent in his duties. Issue 6 was also partly resolved against him regarding the
negligence. Issues 7 and 8 which was the Defendant’s case was not upheld only because
regardless of the circumstantial evidence, the Court was of the opinion that the standard
set by Section 13 of NRCD 323 was not met which made the probabilities to be evenly
balanced thus. The Defendant in the opinion of the Court, exercised its right of employer
to dismiss the Plaintiff employee for his misconduct and incompetence as stated in the
plethora of authorities cited above. The Plaintiff was given an opportunity to be heard on
all allegations before he was dismissed and the audi alterem partem rule was not
breached. Before he was dismissed, the Plaintiff in any case had tendered in his
resignation. He is not entitled to any of his reliefs A to H in the candid and considered
opinion of the Court. The Court will dismiss the Plaintiff’s case accordingly in its entirety.
[SGD]
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H/L JUSTICE DOREEN G. BOAKYE-AGYEI MRS. ESQ.
CASES CITED
ALEX ONUMAH COLEMAN & ANOR VRS NEWMONT GHANA GOLD, CIVIL
HOLDING (2).
~ 49 ~
ESSIEN V. THE STATE [1965] GLR 44
GLR 237
752,
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