Ghanaian lawyer and political strategist Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has raised concerns over a Supreme Court ruling that awarded businessman Daniel Ofori monthly compounded interest at 30% over a 10-year period in a dispute involving Ecobank Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Otchere-Darko said media reports on the 12 May ruling were “frightening” and warned that the implications for Ghana’s financial and judicial systems could be far-reaching if the reports accurately reflected the court’s decision.
“This frightens me as a mere bystander,” he said in public remarks following the judgment, adding that private calculations he conducted produced “staggering” figures.
The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed an application by Ecobank Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange seeking to overturn an earlier judgment in favour of businessman Daniel Ofori over the computation of interest on an investment sum of 6.16 million Ghana cedis.
The five-member panel, presided over by Justice Amadu Tanko, ruled that Ofori was entitled to monthly compounded interest at 30% from 2 June 2008, to 25 July 2018, and thereafter simple interest at 13.34% until final payment.
The court also awarded costs of 50,000 cedis in favour of Ofori and said the full reasons for the decision would be filed within seven days.
“The effect is that the instant application fails in its entirety and we accordingly dismiss same,” Justice Tanko said in the ruling.
Otchere-Darko questioned whether the court had indeed imposed monthly compound interest over such a long period, noting that the Supreme Court had reportedly sought technical guidance from the Bank of Ghana during proceedings because of the complexity of the calculations.
According to him, the central bank advised that interest computations depended largely on the wording of the contract and that there were no fixed rules governing such matters.
He said the Bank of Ghana had reportedly recommended that where compound interest applied, it should ordinarily be annual rather than monthly.
“That is why I would be most surprised if the Court indeed ignored such advice and imposed monthly compound interest over a decade,” he said, adding that he believed there could be inaccuracies in some media reports.
He said he was awaiting the release of the full judgment and urged Ecobank Ghana to issue a statement to reassure customers, shareholders and the wider financial market.
“The implications of this case may be far-far-reaching than we may even care to contemplate,” he said.
The dispute centres on whether Ofori’s investment should attract compound interest calculated monthly instead of annually between 2008 and 2018.
The Supreme Court held that the evidence before it and the applicable law supported Ofori’s entitlement to monthly compounded interest during that period.
Lawyers led by Ace Anan Ankomah represented Ecobank Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange, while Tsatsu Tsikata appeared for Ofori alongside Nana Boakye Mensah-Bonsu and Prince Noel Danquah.
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