Debts have become quiet saboteurs in the country’s commercial landscape. They rarely announce themselves as a crisis and usually, they begin quietly. A supplier delivers goods and waits. A contractor completes work and is promised payment “next week”. A lender extends credit on trust, backed more by relationship than paperwork. Weeks turn into months. Phone calls go unanswered. Cash flow tightens. Growth plans are put on hold.
Across boardrooms and small trading shops alike, the experience is familiar. For many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, unpaid debts are not mere accounting issues. They affect daily operations, limit reinvestment, and threaten survival.Profits that should fund expansion are redirected into survival. Investment pauses, not because ideas are lacking, but because capital is trapped elsewhere.
Debt recovery, therefore, is not about aggression or punishment. It is about restoring balance. The law provides practical tools to help creditors recover what is lawfully owed to them. The challenge is knowing which mechanism to use and when to use it.
a. The First Knock: Letters Before Action
Most debt recovery journeys should not begin in court. They should begin with notice.
A letter before action, sometimes called a letter of demand, is a formal communication issued to a debtor before litigation is commenced. Its purpose is to put the debtor on clear notice that payment is required and that legal consequences will follow non-compliance.
A letter before action sets out the basis of the debt, the amount owed, the parties involved, and a clear timeline for payment, commonly seven days.
For many debtors, the involvement of lawyers and the clear threat of court action is enough to prompt settlement. In practice, a properly drafted letter before action resolves a significant number of debt claims without ever troubling the courts.
b. When Notice Fails: Commencing an Action by Writ of Summons
Where a debtor fails to respond or refuses to pay, the creditor may commence a formal action by issuing a writ of summons.
A writ of summons is the document by which a court action is initiated. Once served, it requires the debtor to enter an appearance within a specified time, usually eight days, if the claim is to be contested. Failure to respond may result in judgment being entered without further notice.
At this stage, the matter moves from private negotiation to judicial determination. The court assumes authority over the dispute and ultimately decides whether the creditor is entitled to recover the sums claimed.
c. Fast-Tracking Justice: Application for Summary Judgment
Not every debt dispute deserves a full trial. Where a creditor can show that the debtor has no defence to the claim, Ghanaian civil procedure allows for summary judgment under Order 14 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2004 (C.I. 47). This mechanism permits the court to enter judgment without the delays of witness testimony and prolonged hearings.
The application must be supported by an affidavit stating that, to the belief of the creditor, the debtor has no defence to the claim. Documents such as contracts, written acknowledgments of debt, letters before action, and responses admitting liability are often critical in these applications.
Summary judgment is the law’s way of refusing to entertain pretence. It exists to prevent delays where there is no real dispute. Where there is no real dispute, delay serves no one.
d. Protecting Assets Pending Trial: Application for Mareva Injunctions
In some cases, the concern is not whether the debt exists, but whether there will be assets left to satisfy it.
A Mareva injunction is a discretionary remedy designed to prevent a debtor from dissipating or disposing of assets before the conclusion of a case. It does not determine liability. Rather, it preserves assets so that any judgment eventually obtained is not rendered useless.
To succeed, a creditor must show a strong prima facie case, a real risk that the debtor may dissipate assets, and that the balance of convenience favours granting the order. When granted, the injunction restrains the debtor from dealing with specified assets until the matter is fully determined.
e. Turning Judgments into Money: Writ of Execution (Fieri Facias)
Obtaining judgment is only part of the process. Recovery is completed through enforcement. One of the primary enforcement tools available to a judgment creditor is the writ of fieri facias, commonly called a writ of fi fa. This writ authorises the seizure and sale of the judgment debtor’s property, movable or immovable, sufficient to satisfy the judgment debt, interest, and costs.
Once obtained, the court authorities, typically the Chief Registrar, may seize goods, land, money, negotiable instruments, or even shares, subject to statutory limitations and third-party rights.
After seizure, the property is usually sold by public auction, and the proceeds applied towards satisfaction of the judgment debt.
f. Following Money Owed to the Debtor: Garnishee Proceedings
Where a judgment debtor holds money indirectly, garnishee proceedings offer another route to recovery.
Garnishee proceedings allow a judgment creditor to attach debts owed to the judgment debtor by a third party. Banks are the most common targets, but the process applies to any person or entity owing money to the debtor.
The procedure begins with a conditional order, issued without notice to the debtor, and which would direct the third party (garnishee) to show cause why the attached funds should not be paid to the creditor. If no valid objection is raised, the court makes the order absolute, and the money is paid directly to the judgment creditor.
In effect, the law redirects the money before it reaches the debtor.
Choosing Strategy Over Force
Debt recovery is not a single road but a network of paths. The most effective creditors are not those who rush to litigation, but those who understand sequence, timing, and leverage. Sometimes a letter is enough. Sometimes speed is critical. Sometimes preservation is the priority. The law provides all these options, but it rewards those who use them deliberately.
In an economy where credit fuels growth, recovery mechanisms are not acts of hostility. They are instruments of balance. When debts are enforced, trust returns to transactions, capital flows again, and businesses are free to grow.
