Court joins A-G to uniBank counter-claim

The Commercial Division of the Accra High Court has added the Attorney-General (A-G) as a defendant to a counter-claim filed by three of the 17 former directors of the defunct uniBank who have been sued for allegedly collapsing the bank

The court, presided over by Ms Justice Abena Dadzie, made the decision after it granted a motion for joinder filed by the three former directors — Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, Prof. Newman Kwadwo-Kusi and Ms Boatemaa Kakra Duffuor-Nyarko.

“It is hereby ordered that the Attorney-General (A-G) be and is hereby joined to the suit as a defendant to the counter-claim.

Let the title of the suit be amended accordingly to reflect the joinder,” Ms Justice Dadzie ordered.

Suit

The receiver of uniBank, Nii Amanor Dodoo, sued the three and 14 others on September 4, 2018 for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duties as directors of the bank and, in the process, leaving behind a GH¢5.7-billion debt.

The plaintiff is, accordingly, praying the High Court to hold the defendants jointly liable for all the loss uniBank Ghana Limited has suffered.

Some of the defendants are Dr Kwabena Duffuor, a former Governor of the BoG; HODA Holdings Ltd, HODA Properties Limited, Integrated Properties Limited, Alban Logistics Limited, Starlife Assurance and Bolton Portfolio Limited.

The rest are Opoku Gyamfi Boateng, Owusu Ansah Awere, Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis, Clifford Duke Mettle, Kofi Kyereh Darkwah, Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye and Alex Gaddiel Buabeng.

Counter-claim

However, three of the defendants the receiver of uniBank sued for causing the GH¢5.7-billion debt to the bank hit back last September.

Dr Duffuor II, Prof. Kwadwo-Kusi and Ms Duffuor-Nyarko, in their defence, accused the receiver, Nii Dodoo, of issuing a defective report, leading to the collapse of the bank.

In a counter-claim, the three are arguing that the BoG would not have revoked uniBank’s licence “but for the acts of misrepresentation and the rent-seeking behaviour of KPMG and the receiver”.

The defendants are, accordingly, seeking a declaration that the entire procedure culminating in the purported appointment of KPMG as an official administrator was unlawful, illegal and contrary to prevailing and acceptable practice and custom of the banking sector.

Background

uniBank was one of the eight local banks that collapsed as a result of what the BoG described as “poor corporate governance and mismanagement of depositors’ funds”.

The bank, set up by Dr Duffuor, was one of five banks merged into the Consolidated Bank, which is a 100 per cent state-owned entity, after their licences were revoked by the BoG.