Accra: The 2024 presidential candidate for the New Force, Nana Kwame Bediako, has clarified circumstances surrounding a US$14.9 million judgment being enforced in Ghana following a ruling from a court in the United Kingdom, stressing that legal processes are still ongoing. In a statement addressed to the public, the business mogul and President of the Kwarleyz Group, Bediako, said recent reports circulating in both traditional and social media had misrepresented the facts surrounding the judgment, which was obtained by Cola Holdings Limited.
According to Ghana Web, Bediako stated that he never contracted any loan from Cola Holdings Limited nor did the company make any payment to him personally. "I have not contracted any loan from Cola Holdings Ltd and Cola Holdings Ltd has not paid any money to me. The transaction leading to the said judgment is based on a loan contracted by Kensington Residential Partners 1 Limited (KRP 1) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC)," he explained. The shareholders of KRP 1 are Bediako himself and Mr. Azad Cola, who is the owner of Cola Holdings Limited. Bediako expressed surprise when informed that Cola Holdings Limited had commenced an action against him personally in the UK to recover the loan contracted by KRP 1 from IFC.
While still in discussions with representatives of KRP 1 to clarify the situation, Bediako learned that a date had been set for judgment to be delivered in the UK concerning that suit. He later discovered that the lawyers he hired to engage with Cola Holdings' lawyers in the UK did not file any processes in defense of the action.
Following the registration of the UK judgment in Ghana, Bediako instructed his Ghanaian lawyers to oppose its enforcement, arguing that the judgment was fraudulently obtained and that enforcing it would be contrary to public policy. "I instructed my lawyers in Ghana to resist the enforcement of the judgment in Ghana on grounds that the judgment was obtained by fraud and its enforcement will be against public policy," he asserted. After the High Court Judge refused to set aside the registration of the foreign judgment, Bediako instructed his lawyers in Ghana to file an appeal against that decision. He also directed them to file processes to ensure that the purported judgment from the UK is not enforced pending the exhaustion of all appeal processes.
Bediako described the situation as unjust enrichment and an abuse of the court process, arguing that Cola Holdings failed to disclose to the UK court that it had already commenced proceedings against KRP 1 in Ghana over the same debt. He claimed that this alleged concealment of material facts amounted to fraudulent misrepresentation, which misled the UK court into granting judgment against him.
"It is also worthy of note that Cola Holdings did not disclose to the Courts in U.K that it had also commenced proceedings to enforce that same debt against KRP 1 in Ghana. This concealment of material facts from the courts in U.K is the fraudulent misrepresentation which misled the court in UK to grant the judgment against me," he stated. Bediako reassured the public of his belief in the rule of law and the justice delivery system in Ghana, expressing confidence that the truth would prevail after all legal processes are exhausted. He condemned what he described as machinations by foreigners and their Ghanaian cohorts to derail his efforts to contribute to the development of Ghana and Africa as a whole.