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On Thursday, the 28th August 2014, the Sekondi High Court will hear a high profile case, in which five members of Ghana�s Parliament are praying the court to remove a restriction the government has imposed on the further expansion of the Takoradi Port. The five are Kwaku Kwarteng (Obuasi West MP), Kwabena Okyere Darko (Takoradi MP), Joseph Cudjoe (Effia MP), Mavis Hawa Koomson ( Ewutu Senya MP) and Kofi Brako (Tema Central MP). On 17th July 2014, Parliament approved an agreement made between the Ghana Government and a British company, Lonrho Ports, for the development of an oil and gas freeport in the Western Region. Clause 7 of the said agreement bars the Takoradi Port from further expanding its facilities for oil and gas until Lonrho has built its freeport, recovered all its cost, and made enough profit. The agreement actually bars all persons or companies from building any oil and gas port facilities in the entire Western Region until Lonrho has recovered its investment and made its profit. But the five Members of Parliament insist that this restriction imposed on a national port like the Takoradi Port is unlawful. They argue in their affidavit that the restriction offends section 5 of the Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority Act, and are praying the court to remove the restriction. They point out that Parliament recently approved a loan of �197 million for the expansion of the oil and gas facilities at the Takoradi Port, and that the port is in the process of securing another US$400 million to support the expansion programme. Imposing this restriction on the port would, therefore, make it impossible for it to repay these loans. This will collapse the port and render its workers jobless. The case, which will be heard on Thursday, 28th August 2014, has generated considerable interest in the twin harbour city, where it is feared that the collapse of the Takoradi Port would mean a collapse of Sekondi-Takoradi as a city. The lawyer for the five Members of Parliament is the renowned Mr. Alexander Abban, the same lawyer who defeated government in the illegal fuel prices case in 2011.