The Accra High Court has ordered Deborah Seyram Adablah, the young woman who sued the former chief financial officer of First Atlantic Bank, to pay GH6,000 in court costs.
The court made its decision after Justice Olivia Obeng Owusu granted a motion filed by attorneys representing First Atlantic Bank, resulting in the bank's name being removed from the lawsuit.
Initially, the bank's solicitors requested a GH50,000 cost award from the court. However, Adablah's attorney requested that the fine be reduced to GH5,000. The court ultimately determined that the plaintiff must pay GH6,000.
Despite the resolution of this issue, the substantive case is still pending due to numerous interim applications that have been filed, delaying its proceedings.
Background
In January of this year, Deborah Seyram Adablah filed a lawsuit against the banking executive Ernest Kwasi Nimako.
In a lawsuit filed at the Accra High Court on January 23, 2023, the plaintiff claims her "sugar daddy" agreed to buy her a car, pay for her housing for three years, give her a monthly stipend of GH3,000, marry her after divorcing his wife, and give her a lump sum to start a business.
She claimed that although Mr. Nimako bought the car and registered it in his (sugar daddy's) name, he took the car back, denying her access to it after about a year of enjoying the Honda Civic worth GH120,000, and he paid only one year's rent for her two-bedroom rented house instead of the three years he had promised.
Ms. Adablah, who claims she was compelled into the relationship during her national service with her sugar dad's former employers, has also accused Mr. Nimako of abuse, sexual harassment, maltreatment, exploitation, and defamation.
She reported undergoing a family planning procedure for her sugar daddy, which negatively impacted her health.
She is requesting that the "sugar daddy" transition the car's title into her name and return the vehicle.
She also asks the court to order the defendant to pay her the lump sum to "enable her to start a business to provide for herself, as agreed by the plaintiff and the defendant."
In addition, the court should order the "sugar daddy" to pay the two-year rent arrears, as agreed upon by the plaintiff and the defendant.
The court requested that Ms. Adablah turn over the contested Honda Civic to the court registrar at the May hearing's conclusion.
The court also ordered Mr. Nimako to provide the registrar with vehicle documentation.
Additionally, the court prohibited Ms. Adablah and Mr. Nimako from publishing any information about the case on both traditional and social media platforms.
"Until the final determination of the case, both parties are prohibited from posting any videos, images, or other materials on social media and traditional media that have the potential to prejudice the case," the court ruled.
The 1st Defendant had asked the court to prohibit the Plaintiff from defaming him on social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and others.
The plaintiff, however, refuted Mr. Nimako's allegations, claiming the social media posts were made before the trial began.
Despite being named as the second defendant, Mr. Nimako's former employer, First Atlantic Bank, requested that its name be removed from the lawsuit.