Chief of Prampram drags GFA to court

Tema, July 04, GNA - Nene Tetteh Djan III, Paramount Chief of the Prampram Traditional Council has moved an ex-parte motion on Thursday at the Tema High Court to compel the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to pay GH¢2,000 out of a GH¢3,000 cost awarded against the Association by the court in 2004.

The motion was moved by Mr Osafo Boabeng from the Oseawuo Chambers and Co, solicitors for the plaintiff after filing a notice of motion for an order to compel the GFA to comply with the terms of a settlement of a case between their client and the Association.

A copy of the motion filed on June 17 this year which was made available to the GNA Sports stated that Nene Djan commenced a legal action against the GFA and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports on the acquisition of a parcel of land at Prampram that used for the construction of the Ghanaman Centre for Sports Excellence. An affidavit attached to the motion stated that after negotiations between the plaintiff and the defendants, the matter was settled out of court, adding that the Tema High Court then presided over by Justice Barbara Ackah Yensu endorsed the terms of settlements as consent to the judgment of April 6, 2004.

It noted that the GFA paid GH¢1,000 out of the GH¢3,000 agreed upon but several letters written to the sector ministry to compel them to pay the balance has proved futile.

A copy of one of the letters addressed to the sector Minister, Mr Dominic Fobih dated April 08, 2008 stated that "the defendants have failed or refused to honour all obligations emanating from the consent judgment save for the part payment of GH¢1,000 as costs agreed upon". It added that as much as the solicitors have wanted to resort to the legal modes of execution prescribed by the rules of the court to ensure compliance with the consent judgment, Nene Djan constrained them to give the ministry prior notice for the benefit of the defendants for an amicable settlement.

The letter again stated that "our client demands that the defendants should honour their obligations under the consent judgment by payment of the agreed terms in consideration for the acquisition of the said land and payment of an amount of GH¢2,000 being the outstanding costs". The Solicitors noted in the letter that earlier correspondence exchanged between the parties have yielded no result as "your predecessors have not even afforded us the courtesy of a reply". It therefore concluded that "we wish to inform the GFA of our intentions to proceed with this matter by executing the said consent judgment to the letter in the event that we do not receive any favourable response from you within 10 days of receipt of this letter".