Accra: The Court of Appeal has affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court in Accra in July 2024, which ordered Marwako Fast Food Limited to pay over GHS1 million to three of its consumers who were poisoned after eating at a branch of the restaurant in 2022. The Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, dismissed the appeal of the well-known restaurant, which sought to overturn the order requiring the payment of GHS345,000 each to the three customers as general damages, along with special damages exceeding GHS25,000.
According to Ghana Web, the court ruled that despite a discrepancy in the medical report of two of the plaintiffs, the report of the third plaintiff demonstrated that food prepared by Marwako was the cause of her food poisoning. The court held the view that the evidence provided by the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs, a medical report, had a discrepancy in its date and thus was not reliable evidence of the food purchased from Marwako as the cause of their food poisoning.
The court, however, found that the evidence in the form of medical records supported the claim of the 1st plaintiff, Winifred Tse, indicating that the food prepared by Marwako and acquired by the plaintiff from the East Legon branch of the restaurant on May 8, 2022, was the cause of her food poisoning, which led to her hospital admission.
Background: The Adenta Circuit Court on June 24, 2024, granted all the reliefs of three siblings who had sued Marwako Food Limited for food poisoning, ordering the restaurant to pay over one million Ghana cedis in damages to the plaintiffs. The court upheld the case of negligence against the appellant, a fast-food business. The siblings contended that they suffered food poisoning, characterized by abdominal pains, vomiting, and diarrhea, after purchasing food from Marwako Fast Food on May 8, 2022.
The plaintiffs, Winifred Tse, Rodger Bismark Tse, and Walter Tse, were each awarded GHS345,000 in general damages and will jointly receive special damages amounting to GHS25,215.48. The court also awarded GHS10,000 to cover the plaintiffs' legal representation costs and overall litigation expenses.