Can this case be resolved through ADR? Give reasons for your answer
Afua Nyame had closed from church one Sunday afternoon when she met Nana, her neighbour and they became friends after an exchange of pleasantries.
After a few months, Afua Nyame came across Nana again on social media and Nana told her he was out of the country. Nana told Afua Nyame that he had been in the UK for a while and, that’s why she hadn’t heard from him. He informed her that there was an opportunity to recruit a number of people from Ghana to the company where he was working in the UK. Nana further explained to Afua Nyame that if she could raise GH₵5,000.00, it could cater for her expenses, since the company was bearing part of the cost.
Afua Nyame agreed to take advantage of the opportunity, but after two weeks couldn’t raise the money. So when reported back to Nana, he told her that in order to get a discount, she should sell the idea to five people who were willing to pay GH₵5,000.00 each for the trip.
She spoke to some friends at her work place concerning the opportunity, but only one person named Ukasha was interested. So she finally introduced him to Nana on the phone and WhatsApp, after which the two started communicating.
After the introduction, Afua Nyame did not hear from both Ukasha and Nana for some time, until she asked Ukasha about it. Ukasha then told her that Nana was requesting GH₵1,000 to be given to a middleman to start with the travelling process. Later that day, Ukasha requested Afua Nyame to deliver the GH₵ 1,000 to the middleman for him since he was busy at the office. She didn’t agree to it at the beginning but later gave up and delivered the money.
After the first payment which Afua Nyame was aware of, Ukasha had been convinced by Nana to make another installment of GH₵8,000 to the first amount he paid. He did not hear from Nana again after the payments. All attempts to contact him failed.
One Monday morning when Afua Nyame was at work, Ukasha led police officers to arrest her and charged her with conspiracy and fraud.
Afua Nyame has been authorised by the police to pay the GH₵9,000.00 Ukasha paid to Nana since she was the one who introduced him to Nana.
The only name Afua Nyame knows is Nana and does not know his full name. She does not know any family member of Nana or his where about. She is confused and does not know what to do. She has doubts about the said total amount of money Ukasha is claiming to have paid, and the worst of it all is that she cannot afford to pay even a quarter of the whole money.
A church member advised her to consult an ADR Center for the resolution of the matter.
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Participants of the December 2017 MCPDW are exempted.
