Supreme Court throws out UNICOF’s case against ADB
The Supreme Court yesterday struck out an application by the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF) for an order to declare the moves by the ADB Bank to float shares on the stock market as unconstitutional.
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The one-member court, presided over by Mr Justice Gabriel Pwamang, also barred the UNICOF from initiating any similar action in the court and awarded costs totalling GH¢10,000 against it.
The decision followed an application by the counsel for UNICOF, Mr Charles Bawaduah, to withdraw the case.
Counsel for ADB Bank, Mr Tony Lithur, had no objection but implored the court to impose a “heavy cost” on the applicants, saying their conduct had been reprehensible and ought to be punished.
Effect on bank
He said the UNICOF had filed a similar case at the High Court that had been dismissed and pointed out that the action by the union had caused heavy damage to the bank, as customers had been led to withdraw their savings and others had prematurely ended their relationship with the bank.
A Chief State Attorney representing the Attorney-General’s (AG) Department, Ms Dorothy Afriyie Ansah, also called for a huge cost against the applicants to prevent any further disturbance of the process and asked for GH¢50,000.
But Mr Bawaduah submitted that the court had discretionary power regarding the award of costs and therefore implored it to apply discretion, since the case was filed in good faith, but had to be withdrawn in order not to waste the court’s time.
Background
The ADB Bank had started processes for its Initial Public Offer (IPO) at the Ghana Stock Exchange when the legal team of the UNICOF filed two separate suits, one at the High Court and another at the Supreme Court, to challenge the decision to sell 40 per cent shares to foreign investors without parliamentary approval.
But the Industrial and Labour Division of the High Court, presided over by Mrs Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, on August 5, 2015 denied the application by ruling that the applicants had failed to lay concrete evidence on why the bank’s plans should not materialise.
UNICOF’s contention
Among others, the writ at the Supreme Court sought to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 181 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 19 of Act 286, the issuance of shares to the public by the ADB Bank and the trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange required prior parliamentary approval; and the refusal, neglect and or failure by the defendants to seek that approval amounted to a breach of the 1992 Constitution.
The applicants further urged the court to order that the government’s approval of the decision of the ADB Bank’s Board without recourse to Parliament amounted to the usurpation of the constitutional mandate of Parliament under Article 181 (1), Section 19 of Act 286 and Order 171 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.