- Kenpong Travel lawyers reject liquidation petition, say GH¢2.50 million debt is under appeal
Lawyers for Kenpong Travel and Tours Limited have rejected the winding-up petition reportedly filed against the company over a GH¢2.50 million judgment debt, insisting that the underlying debt remains the subject of a pending appeal before the Court of Appeal.
The response follows an earlier NorvanReports publication that First Atlantic Bank had moved to shut down Kenpong Travel and Tours over a GH¢2.55 million judgement debt.
In a statement cited by NorvanReports, Zoe, Akyea & Co., lawyers for Kenpong Travel and Tours Limited, stated that their client had not been served with any petition allegedly filed on May 4, 2026, by Kwame Akufo & Co. Unlimited on behalf of First Atlantic Bank.
The law firm questioned why a winding-up petition allegedly filed as far back as May 4 would not have been served on the company, only for the petition to appear in the public domain.
According to the lawyers, the timing of the publication was suspicious, particularly because Kenpong Travel and Tours is currently providing travel and related services connected to the World Cup.
“Our attention has been brought to a poorly engineered and foul publication, which has gone viral, of and concerning our Client, and touching on the above subject,” the lawyers said.
They further alleged that the publication had withheld material information from the public and was calculated to damage the company’s reputation and business interests.
The lawyers admitted that First Atlantic Bank secured a summary judgement against Kenpong Travel and Tours Limited and others on August 15, 2022. They also acknowledged that the bank has taken the position that the company owes it GH¢2.50 million on the basis of that judgement.
However, they argued that the matter has not reached finality because Kenpong Travel and Tours filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal on September 27, 2022, challenging both the propriety of the judgement and the quantum of money awarded by the High Court.
The lawyers said the record of appeal was fully compiled and Form 6 issued on April 13, 2026. They added that Samuel Atta Akyea of Zoe, Akyea & Co. filed written submissions for the appellants on May 13, 2026.
According to the statement, Kwame Boafo-Akufo of Kwame Akufo & Co. filed the respondent’s answer to the written submissions on June 3, 2026, while Kenpong Travel and Tours filed its reply on June 18, 2026.
“The Court of Appeal is yet to hear the appeal,” the lawyers stated.
They therefore described the filing of a winding-up application, while the appeal remains pending, as a “professional misjudgement”, arguing that the fate of the alleged debt is yet to be determined by the appellate court.
“In the premises, it is a pathetic professional misjudgement for anybody to file a winding-up application when the fate of the so-called debt is yet to be determined by the Court of Appeal,” the statement said.
The lawyers further claimed that the winding-up petition was filed in bad faith because the Court of Appeal could potentially set aside the judgement that gave rise to the debt.
“It is obvious that the winding-up petition was filed in bad faith given the likelihood that the Court of Appeal can set aside the judgement which has given rise to the GHS 2.5m debt,” they said.
Beyond the appeal, the lawyers also disclosed that Kenpong Travel and Tours has sued First Atlantic Bank at the High Court in Accra over what it describes as the bank’s refusal to release the company’s statement of account for scrutiny.
According to the statement, the company is seeking a declaration that First Atlantic Bank is in continuing breach of Section 58 of the Borrowers and Lenders Act, 2020, Act 1052, which the lawyers say places a statutory obligation on a bank to release a customer’s bank statement not later than five days after a request.
The lawyers said the suit is titled: Suit No. GJ/1131/2025; Kenpong Travel & Tours Limited v. First Atlantic Bank Limited and Bank of Ghana.
They further criticised the Bank of Ghana, which is named as the second defendant in that suit, accusing the regulator of failing in its supervisory role in relation to First Atlantic Bank’s conduct.
The lawyers said it was unacceptable that a bank would have to be taken to court over what they described as the ordinary obligation of releasing a customer’s statement of account.
They maintained that the winding-up petition is “bankrupt” because the alleged debt is the subject matter of an appeal.
“Our Client will certainly weigh its options and seek the appropriate reliefs in Court by reason of this malicious publication founded on the still-born winding-up petition,” the statement added.
The latest response introduces a new layer to the dispute between First Atlantic Bank and Kenpong Travel and Tours.
While the bank’s reported winding-up petition is anchored on an existing High Court judgment, Kenpong Travel and Tours’ position is that the judgment cannot be treated as finally settled while an appeal is pending before the Court of Appeal.
The case therefore raises two connected legal questions. The first is whether a creditor can properly pursue winding-up proceedings on the strength of a judgment that is under appeal. The second is whether the alleged failure to provide account statements, as claimed by Kenpong Travel and Tours, has any bearing on the broader dispute over the debt.
For now, the company’s lawyers are not denying that a High Court judgment exists. Their argument is that the judgment is being challenged and that any liquidation step based on it is premature.
First Atlantic Bank’s position, however, as reflected in the earlier publication, is that the judgment debt remains due and that the petition forms part of efforts to recover the amount owed.
The matter is likely to turn on how the courts treat the pending appeal, the winding-up petition and the separate High Court action over the release of bank statements.
For Kenpong Travel and Tours, the immediate priority will be to prevent any liquidation process from advancing while the Court of Appeal has yet to determine the substantive challenge to the judgment.
For First Atlantic Bank, the issue remains the enforcement of a judgment debt it says is owed by the company.
NorvanReports will continue to follow the matter and publish further responses from First Atlantic Bank, Kenpong Travel and Tours, the Bank of Ghana or their respective lawyers as the court processes unfold.
