The High Court in Accra has decisively rejected Cheddar’s application seeking to restrain the enforcement of a $14.9 million judgment obtained by UK-based Cola Holdings Limited, awarding costs of GH¢20,000 against him. The decision, announced on July 27, 2026, follows a lengthy legal battle centered around the refusal of the English High Court to set aside the judgment’s registration in Ghana. The application, filed by lawyer Bobby Banson, aimed to prevent Cola Holdings from enforcing the judgment against Mr. Bediako personally, pending an appeal against the refusal to allow the registration of the judgment. The case stems from a Deed of Indemnity signed by Mr. Bediako in respect of his share of a loan from the International Finance Corporation. Cola Holdings guaranteed this loan to Kensington Residential Partners 1 Ltd, a company in which Mr. Bediako and Azad Cola hold shares. Following default, IFC assigned its interest in the loan to Cola Holdings, which then assigned its interest to Mr. Bediako. Cola Holdings sought unsuccessfully to have Mr. Bediako fulfil his obligation to repay his share of the loan before instituting proceedings in the High Court in London. Mr. Bediako maintains that the dispute is primarily a corporate loan, not a personal one, and argues that the judgment was obtained improperly. The court, in dismissing the application, applied the principles governing stays of execution pending appeal, as established in *Joseph v Jebeille* and reaffirmed in *NDK Financial Services Ltd v Yiadom Construction* and *NDK Financial Services Ltd v Yiadom Construction and Electrical Works Ltd*. The judgment was based on the finding that Cola Holdings possesses identifiable assets within Ghana. The court noted that the Respondent exhibited a certificate of registration of a mortgage from the Registrar of Companies and a memorandum of registration of mortgage at the Lands Commission, demonstrating registered security interests in immovable and other assets in Ghana. These same documents were exhibited by Mr. Bediako himself in his earlier application to set aside the registration. The court rejected Mr. Bediako’s assertion that Cola Holdings had “no traceable assets in Ghana,” describing the claim as ‘demonstrably at odds with the record’. The court awarded costs of GH¢20,000 against Mr. Bediako. The judge declined to award punitive costs, noting that a litigant is entitled to test a ruling by appeal and seek protection pending that appeal. The ruling follows a separate High Court decision on July 21, 2026, which granted Cola Holdings and its Receiver police assistance to take possession of the No. 1 Oxford Street Hotel in Osu, a property linked to Mr. Bediako. The court in that matter found that Cola Holdings had properly registered its security interest over the property and was entitled to enforce its rights under the Borrowers and Lenders Act, 2020 (Act 1052). Cola Holdings and the Receiver were represented in the injunction application by Tsatsu Tsikata and Tata Kosi Foliba, while Mr. Bediako was represented by Bobby Banson. The case highlights the ongoing legal battle surrounding the interpretation of the judgment and the enforcement of contractual obligations.
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Source: Adom Online
