On one blistering afternoon in December 2011, in a law office in Ampomah Estates near Oyibi, there was a meeting of two men both named Francis. The elderly one was an ex-convict who had been detained for 14 years and had got his freedom through the Justice for All Programme.

The younger one was a human rights and public interest lawyer. That meeting between 43-year old Francis Agyare and 31-year old Francis-Xavier Sosu, marked the beginning of two legal tussles that would, in the end, give Mr. Agyare a hopeful restart to life but bruise Mr. Sosu threaten his career.

The background

Francis Agyare was arrested in a police swoop on January 5, 1994, at James Town Beach when he had gone there to buy fish for his family. One Fofo Afagadzi, who is now facing life imprisonment, pointed him out as one of his accomplices. Five days later, he was charged with robbery and remanded in prison custody pending further investigations and that was it. “Locked and forgotten!”

When he was released from Prison, Francis Agyare found life unbearable. His only son, Yaw Agyare, who was six at the time of his arrest was now over 20 years but without a meaningful life because he had dropped out of school. His wife had left and there was no one to help him.

Mr. Agyare is said to have attended a programme on suicide held in Accra because he had contemplated suicide in the course of his suffering. At the programme, a Metro TV reporter heard him speak and magnified his story in a news bulletin.

After the story, some reporters of the station and other journalists and individuals, who were touched by his plight, decided to help him to get a lawyer to assist him to fight for a compensation. The lots fell on Francis-Xavier Sosu.

Francis Agyare was “peswewaless”. He, together with his son and in-law and some friends from the media, walked into Francis Xavier Sosu’s office empty-handed.

He could not pay legal services or any of the expenses in relation to his case. But he was willing to do one thing, which he repeated a number of times to the lawyer – to give half of the compensation to the lawyer if he managed to secure him any.

The legal process, expenses, and fees

On March 27, 2012, the applicant (Francis Agyare) through his lawyer (Francis-Xavier Sosu) “issued a Motion on Notice for Extension of Time within which to apply for Enforcement of Fundamental Human Rights.”

This was granted by the court and on November 30, 2012, the applicant filed a motion to enforce his human rights.

The applicant prayed the court to declare that his detention was unlawful and that his fundamental human rights had been breached. He, among others, demanded a compensation of GHS 2,000,000.

A little over a month later, on January 8, 2013, Francis Agyare and Francis-Xavier Sosu’s law firm (F-X Law and Associates) entered into a “Legal Fees and Professional Charges Agreement” in which the firm was to be paid “25% of all the monies recovered under the suit including orders for general damages if any” and the “cost and legal fees that will be awarded by the court if any.”

The agreement was read and explained to Agyare by Ms. Theodora Shika Klu and he signed. His son, Yaw Agyare and in-law, Kpakpo Oquaye were witnesses.