Omosanya A. Wyndham V. Percival H. Bravo Jones (1932)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

The Moi$ey-lenders Ordinance of Sierra Leone, section 4—Money- lenders to carry on their money lending business in their registered names and under no other names or descriptions—Effect of omission to add the word ” money-lender ” to such a person’s correct name and address in a mortgage deed.

Facts

Section 4 (1) of the Money-lenders Ordinance of Sierra Leone directs that a money-lender shall carry on his money lending business in his registered name and in no other name and under no other description.

Penalties are provided in the same section for any breach of this enactment. In a Mortgage Deed entered into between a borrower and a registered money lender the latter’s correct name and address were given, but he was not described in the Deed itself as a money lender. The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone held that this omission was sufficient to constitute a breach of the provisions of section 4 of the Ordinance and, consequently, to render the Mortgage Deed illegal and a sale made thereunder invalid.

Held

On appeal, that as the money-lender had not been described at all in the Mortgage Deed he could not be said to have been incorrectly described therein. There was therefore no breach of section 4 (1) of the Ordinance and the Mortgage Deed was legal and the sale thereunder valid.

The appellant will have his costs in this Court and the Court below.