By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 16,2011
The two parties litigating over who should lead the execution of the STX Housing Project are tight-lipped on the progress of the proposed out of court settlement of the dispute between the Ghanaian and the Korean partners.
Although the Accra Commercial Court trying the case gave the parties up to Wednesday to firm up the terms of settlement, they declined to announce the progress in open court when proceedings resumed.
When counsel for the Korean partners, Sarfo Buabeng, was asked by the judge the extent of progress made with regards to the settlement, he replied: “We would prefer meeting you in chambers for that aspect.”
Although the judge, Mrs. Gertrude Torkornoo, initially refused to grant the request, she later rescinded her decision following an intervention by another lawyer, Kizito Beyuo, who announced himself as “intervener”.
The court thus called Mr.Buabeng, Mr. Beyuo, a representative of the Korean partners and Mr. B.K Asamoah, the man who initiated the action against the Korean Partners, into the judge’s chamber, and after about five minutes returned.
Efforts by anxious journalists to get information on the brief in-camera sitting proved futile as both parties were not ready to divulge it.
At the court’s last sitting on November 24, Mr. Buabeng informed the court that the terms of settlement had been forwarded to the Korean Partners in Seoul, but was yet to receive any communication from his clients in Korea.
According to him, the case was such an important issue that the Koreans representing his clients in Ghana had no mandate to give directives on the terms of settlement drawn up for the amicable resolution of the impasse.
In view of the circumstance, the court gave them the last opportunity to firm up the settlement, and warned that if the parties failed in the bid by December 14, it would give them the option to either move the application or withdraw it; otherwise the court will have no option than to strike it out.
G.K. Airports Company Limited, a company owned by B.K.Asamoah, which commenced the action to disengage the Korean partners from the execution of the project, on November 15, 2011, announced an out of court settlement, a copy of which they handed to the Korean partners to sign for it to be filed at the court registry.
The action, which was commenced on September 27 is against STX Engineering & Construction, STX Constriction Co. Ltd and eight other Koreans appointed by the latter to represent them on the former as directors.
Mr Asamoah claimed the Korean partners breached their obligations under the Joint Venture Agreement by woefully failing to provide all the technical, engineering and construction expertise required for the project, aside its failure to arrange for finances.
The applicant contended that the Korean partners on May 6, 2011 wrote a letter to terminate the Joint Venture Agreement of November 15, 2009 and the Heads of Agreement between the two partners which it duly accepted.
He averred that having accepted STX Construction Company Limited’s “unilateral decision” terminating the agreements, it has since ceased to be a partner of the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, which is to execute construction of 200,000 houses.
By the action of STX Construction, the applicant is contending that it has “no right of representation on STX E&C Ghana Limited’s board”, and that per the Korean partners breach, the applicant exercised its right as the sole shareholder of the STX E&C.
It claimed that the breach by the Korean partners’ completely prejudiced the success of the project in that it contravened its statutory obligation to make the appropriate investment by way of direct equity contribution as a partner to the project in terms of its obligation as a foreign investor.
The applicant therefore sought among other reliefs, a declaration that by terminating the Joint Venture Agreement and Heads of Agreement, the respondents have renounced their membership of STX E&C.
It is further seeking an order of injunction restraining STX Construction Co. Ltd as well as its seven directors from holding itself out and or purporting to act or discharge functions as shareholders of STX E&C.
Meanwhile, the Korean partners have opposed the applicant’s claims contending that STX Construction Limited still remained a member of the STX E&C an that all its appointees to the board of STX E&C had acted legally and lawfully at all material times.
According to the Korean partners, STX Construction Co. Ltd had fully paid for its 15,000 shares in STX E&C and remitted to Ghana a total of 1,009,964 dollars of which 15,819.21 dollars had been converted into cedis and credited to STX E&C account as its equity contribution.
Again, the respondents are claimed that STX Construction Co. Ltd had not executed any transfer of its shares, neither had the said shares been affected by any law or statute, adding there had not been any call on it by STX E&C to pay for the said shares subscribed nor had STX Construction Co. Ltd been liquidated.
The Korean partners further contended that the Joint Venture Agreement between STX E&C and STX Construction Co. Ltd were merely transitional and was to operate for only six months.
No comments:
Post a Comment