Court strikes out Cruise People Ltd case against Black Sherif
An Accra High Court has struck out a case brought against Ghanaian musician Mohammed Ismail Sherif, known as Black Sherif, by Cruise People Ltd.
The company had accused the artist of breaching an agreement that led to the cancellation of a concert called ‘Afro Cruise Jam,’ which was scheduled to take place in Athens, Greece, in August 2023.
Cruise People claimed that the cancellation resulted in financial losses, for which they sought compensation from Black Sherif.
In response, Black Sherif’s legal team argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, as the performance contract specified that any legal proceedings should occur in the United Kingdom.
However, representatives of Cruise People Limited fought off this claim, insisting the court had jurisdiction to handle the case because both parties are Ghanaians and ply their trades in Ghana.
The judge emphasized that none of the addresses provided by the party engaging the artist were situated in Ghana. As a result, the court had no alternative but to dismiss the case against the acclaimed music star.
Background
The reigning VGMA Artiste of the Year was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport(KIA) on Wednesday, July 19, in the evening and sent to the police headquarters in Accra for a breach of contract.
It will be recalled that Cruise People Limited later filed a lawsuit against the award-winning musician.
In a writ of summon at the High Court, the Cruise company indicated that Black Sherif honors an agreement between them leading to the cancellation of the Afro Cruise Jam concert that was scheduled for August 2023.
Cruise People Limited noted in the suit that after booking Black Sherif for the cruise and paying half of his booking fee ($20,000), the ‘Second Sermon’ hitmaker was expected to make a video confirming his participation in the event in Greece.
The Plaintiff claimed that after assurances that Black Sherif would send the video ahead of the media launch on May 19, the company paid $18,000 to secure cabins on the cruise and paid GHS65,000 to Joy FM for the launch on Drive Time.
“The Plaintiff avers that as a result of the Defendant’s willful neglect and or refusal to confirm his musical performance on the Joy FM radio show through the video clip, the paid deposit of $18,000 for the cabins on the cruise ship was lost to the cruise line due to the cancellation of the booking of the cabins since the expected Interests and patronage of the event could not be guaranteed,” part of the suit read.
Cruise People Limited added that Black Sherif knew that failure to perform “his obligations”(confirming his participation) would jeopardize the event since the patronage of the event, they stated, was dependent on the Defendant announcing his availability to perform on the cruise ship.
They added that this conduct constitutes a fundamental breach of the agreement executed on the 18th of April 2023, and defeats the agreement in its entirety.