Ghana Businessman Rejects GH¢79.7 Million Court Award, Says Amount Far Exceeds Actual Claim
- The Accra High Court awarded Servistar Minwax (WA) Limited GH¢79.65 million in import duty refunds from the Ghana Revenue Authority
- The company's director said his company's legitimate claim stood at roughly GH¢8.95 million, a fraction of the court-awarded figure
- Manly-Spain has formally petitioned the GRA Commissioner-General to block payment of the excess amount
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Henry Manly-Spain, director of Servistar Minwax (WA) Limited, has formally rejected a GH¢79.65 million court-awarded refund from the Ghana Revenue Authority, saying the sum awarded is nearly nine times the amount his company actually claimed.
The Accra High Court (Commercial Division 3), presided over by Justice Doris Awuah Dabanka-Bekoe, ordered on July 22, 2026, that the Bank of Ghana release GH¢79,651,132 from the GRA's designated refund account to satisfy a judgment debt owed to Servistar Minwax.
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The ruling followed garnishee proceedings initiated after the GRA failed to pay a certified, reconciled sum owed to the company for overpaid import duties, with the original overpayment dating to 2009 and confirmed by an audit in 2016.
Speaking to Graphic Online, Manly-Spain said the documents he personally submitted to his lawyer supported a claim of just over GH¢8.95 million, which, with accumulated interest, he expected to reach no more than GH¢10 million.
He said the original claims comprised more than GH¢7 million relating to containers sold by the GRA and approximately GH¢940,000 in overpaid duties.
He explained that he had largely left the proceedings in his lawyer's hands after providing the relevant documents, only discovering the GH¢79.7 million figure during court proceedings when his lawyer and a Customs officer became embroiled in a dispute over the amount. "I was with a good friend of mine who is also a lawyer.
He looked at me, I looked at him, and we both repeated the money, and I shook my head," he said.
Manly-Spain added that he attempted to flag the discrepancy before judgment was delivered, raising his hand to speak in court, but the judge declined to hear him, indicating her decision had already been written.
Petition and Call for Investigation
In a petition dated August 1, 2026, addressed to the GRA Commissioner-General, Manly-Spain formally rejected the awarded sum.
He described accepting the money as "a betrayal of my conscience, my business and the nation," and cited the government's struggles to fund essential healthcare equipment, including dialysis machines and incubators, as a key motivation for his decision.
The petition called for an independent investigation by the GRA, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, and other relevant bodies to ensure any final payment to the company is proportionate to what is genuinely owed.
The court's ruling had directed that the funds be paid into the Logan and Associates client account, named after plaintiff's counsel Maxwell Logan, who had argued successfully that the refund account was the appropriate source of payment given that the debt itself arose from an unpaid tax refund.
GRA interdicts 5 customs officers
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the GRA had suspended five Customs officers over alleged procedural breaches linked to Niger cargo trucks.
An investigation had revealed documentation inconsistencies during a transit cargo operation on February 18, 2026.
Further inquiries were expected to involve additional officers as investigations into potential breaches continued.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
