IN THE HIGH COURT OF SIERRA LEONE INDUSTRIAL  COURT DIVISION

 

 

 

 

IC37/14

AHMED  AUE  SESAY  &. ANO.                                ·PLAINTIFF

 

 

AND

 

THE GENERAL MANAGER  

AFRICAN MINERAL (SL) LTD                                                      DEFENDANT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TANNER Legal ADV'ISORY

B.M.T. Law CHAMBERS
 

 

FOR THE PLAINTIFFS

 

FOR THE DEFL'JDANTS     '-

 

 

 

 

BEFORE THE HON. MR. JUSTICE SENGU KOROMA JA. PRESIDENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL COURT RULING DELIVERED ON THE 16TH DAY OF MAY, 2018

 

I I

I1T.his matter was referred to the Industrial Court by a Memorandum  from the Commissioner of Labour dated the 14th day of October 2014

1. The allegations against the Defendant are contained in a letter from the Solicitors for the Plaintiffs- Tanner Legal Advisory dated 13th August, 2013 and pre-action letter dated 5th February, 2014
2. The matter came for hearing before the Hon. Justice P.O. Hamilton JSC President of the Industrial Court, (as he then was) on the 28th dayofQctober, 2014 and Judgment was delivered on the 16th day of December, ;015 as follows: .       .
3. "Having considered the  evidence led in this matter, I shall give Judgment   for

the Plaintiffs and Order that the followi.ngB phici to them as end of Service benefits;

1. 1st  Plaintiff   the   SUill of   L J09,357,852.13   put   an   interest    of

25percent on this amo 11t rid 6ost dfLe5,ooo,ooo.oo

1. 2nd Defendanf the sumof Le38,679,577 82 plus an interest of 25 percent  on  thilkmou11lhhd c;st  of Le5,ooo,ooo.oo

1.  

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I note that Justice llamilt6ri .P, «rithdrew the file for Judgment on the 2nd November;   ;Jis  when   lie    discovered   that   the   Defendant   was   causing

consider;ble delay in defehding the matter by his frequent absence.

1. By Ord f of th )11dustri l Court dated the 19th December, 2015, Hamilton P. granteclfli appli6ation by the Plaintiffs for Shang dong Steel (SL) Ltd to be adclJd as 3rXGirnishee.
2. By a N ifc{! of Motion dated the 31st day of July, 2017, the Solicitors for the 3rd Garnishee]1pplied to this Court seeking the following Orders:-

!.     That  the Judgment  dated the 16th day of December,  2018 and  or Court Order dated 15th December, 2016 be set aside on the following grounds:

11. That the Defendant Company described as African Minerals (SL) Limited in  the  Judgment  dated  the 16th day  of  December,  2015 has  not  been

 

liquidated, or wound up and as such  is still in existence,  and cannot  in the circumstances  be deemed to be another company.

n1. That the said African Minerals (SL) Limited is not and cannot in the premises be sued or executed against through the said Shang dong Steel (SL) Ltd as purportedly described in the Order of the Court dated the 19th December, 2016.

1v.  That  the   purported  Shang  dong  Steel   (SL)  Ltd  has  no   connection

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whatsoever with the Defendant in fact and in law, as evidenced by the Order of Court dated 14th March, 2016.

1. That  the execution  of the Judgment  dated the 16th December,  2015 and or

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Court Order dated 19th December, n2016 ancl ail subsequent proceedings be stayed pending the hearing and determinatiori8fthisapplication

1. Further and/or  in the alternative,  thiitthis  H6Ilourable  Court sets aside   the

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said  Judgment   dated  16th   Dece111ber,  2016 for  reasons  of  irregularity  on   the

grounds that:-                         .                                                .....

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1. That Shandong Steel (SL)  Ltd was  never  a party  to the action    nor

was  it   ever   jo.i.n.  ed   as ••a ..  }           to   the   action.   That   the   order

 

 

 

 

 

JJ.
 

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heard)

contra,venes therule  of ''ai{di alterem  patem" (let  the other side  be

 

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That th liability for the Judgment sum was imposed on Shandong Steel (SL) Ltcf i place of or in substitution for the

l)efencll11t/Judgment Debtor (African Minerals (SL) Limited) by

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····•·•·••·•··· way ofGarnishee proceedings after a first Garnishee proceedings

\  p d  been brought and duly dismissed on the grounds that   Shandong

St el (SL) Ltd held no accounts for the Defendant/Judgment

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Debtor; and notwithstanding that Shandong Steel (SL) Ltd was not a party to the trial.

n1.    That  the  Court  wrongly  converted  the  Garnishee  proceedings   as

though same was an application  for  joinder  of  parties  under Order

 

18 of the High Court Rules of 2007 and substituted Shang dong Steel (SL) Ltd for the Defendant when Shandong was never properly brought before the Court so that it be given an opportunity to put in a defence and properly defend the action.

1. In support of the application, the 3rd Garnishee/Application, relies on the affidavit of Radcliffe Jones sworn to on the 3st July, 2017 together with the exhibits attached thereto. The thrust of the  various averments therein  is   that

the African  Minerals  (SL)  Limited  is still a legal entity  jndepend nt  of the   3rd

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Garnishee  and  so  cannot  be deemed  in law and  fact as holding  the ;;sets of

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African  Minerals  (SL) Limited. As a result, the :id  Garnisheecannot be  sued

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in place of AML nor can Judgment against fAML be executed against the 3rd Garnishee.

1. The Plaintiffs/Respondents opposes the application and relies on the   affidavit

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of Sadia Bakarr sworn to on the 14th. day of July, 2017 and the exhibits attached  thereto.

10.I  have  read  the  various  affidavits and listened  to Counsel.  Without wasting

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any further time,  I will say that the averments by the  3rd Garnishee  in the

affidavit in support have been debunked by a recent Sierra Leone Court of Appeal  decision  in  the case of SHANG  DONG  STEEL  (SL)  LTD -V-

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MUSTAPHA JOSEPH  CIV.APP30/16 delivered on the 1st  March,

2018:Jn thi2 ase, thl3nfGarnishee herein, then appellant appealed against a

decisi6i19f M. /samba J, in which the Trial Judge held Shandong Steel (SL) Ltcl liabl; for. African Minerals (SL) Limited's obligations to its  former

empl jeet: In the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal delivered by Sengu Koror1a JA, His Lordship after determining that Shandong Steel took over the sh1res of Al\1L with its legal implications had this to say "In a share purchase, the Employees remain with the entity and purchaser." Apart from the possible provisions in the sale and purchase agreement that may provide for redundancy of specific staff or specific benefits to be paid upon change   of

 

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control of  the business,  "the  Legal  identity  of  the  employer   remains  the same" I continued "Based on the description of the various types of purchase, it will be easy to discern that Shandong Steel (SL) acquired  all of the shares of AML and its subsidiaries thus not only gaining  the assets but also its liabilities ...I hold that based on the principle of company acquisition through shares, the Appellant (Shandong Steel (SL) Ltd) had taken over the Legal identity of AML as regards its employees ..."

1. Based on the  doctrine of stare decision, a decision  of the  Court ofAppeal   is

binding on itself and all other inferior Court. As I am presiding    in thiscase as

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a High Court Judge, my decision in the Courts of Appeal is binding on me. In the circumstances, it will be per in curiam.todet.ermineotherwise.

 

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I therefore Order as follows:-

1. That the application dated thk13th dciyof July, 2017 to set aside the Judgment of this Cot11j·:dated 1; 1 clay ofDecember, 2015 is hereby refused
2. That interim stay fExec iion g;anted by this Court on the 12th July,

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2017 in the matter hereih i§ h f by vacated.

1.  

or

That  the applic1tio11 to sJiaside the Order  of this Court dated  19th

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day         Decemper,    2016   including    the   3rd Garnishee    herein, Shandortg Steel (SL) Ltd as Garnishee is hereby refused

1. Co fd\of   Le19,  000,000.00  to  be  borne  by  the  Applicant  to  the
   • spo clents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HON. MR. J '              E SENGU KOROMA JA. PRESIDENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL COURT