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OBENG ALIAS NKOBIAHENE V. DZABA

(1975) JELR 64946 (HC)

High Court  •  21 Oct 1975  •  Ghana

Coram
ANDOH J.

Judgement

ANDOH J.: The short but crucial point raised in this appeal is whether:

“putting a person into fetish can found an action in our duly constituted courts for damages or whether it should be regarded as a customary offence probably punishable at the instance of the State by criminal prosecution as was done in the past.”

Francois J. (as he then was) decided in a recent case of Adanuty v. Manchie, High Court, Ho, 31 January 1969, unreported; digested in (1969) C.C. 84, that putting a person into fetish was an actionable wrong because of the fear of Ghanaians of the fetish and its evil force, which persists in Ghana today notwithstanding the spread of evangelism.

In this appeal I have been urged by Dr. Asamoah, counsel for the appellant, not to follow the decision of the learned judge. He urges that I should hold that putting a person into fetish does not give a cause of action or, at any rate, that the writ in this case, did not disclose any cause of action.

The facts culminating in this appe…

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