ADDO v. NARTEY

JUDGMENT OF APALOO J.S.C.

This case has some unusual features and in order to appreciate the judgment from which this appeal has been brought, it is necessary to relate the facts on which it is grounded.

The plaintiff who is a minister of religion, was at some time prior to January 1958, the owner of a house described as No. 98/5 Fanofa, Accra. The exact nature of the title which he had to the land on which the building stands is far from clear. The evidence shows that an unspecified title to a large plot of land on which the house in dispute is situate, is vested in an entity known as the Akwapim Union. It would seem that the latter promised to grant the plaintiff a lease of this land and permitted him to enter into possession and erect a building thereon. The evidence is imprecise as to when the building was erected, but it is clear that it must have been some time before January 1958, because at that date, the house was in the occupation of a Mr. Constodontis to whom the plaintiff had let it at a monthly rental of £G35.

The second defendant is a limited liability company and its name suggests that it is a benevolent society of a sort. Some time in 1957, the first defendant, who was described as the chairman of the second defendant company, offered on behalf of the company to purchase the [p.321] premises. This offer was accepted by the plaintiff after the purchase price was agreed at £G2,000. It seems that the parties did not seek professional assistance in their negotiations. Had they done so, there would have been the usual investigation as to title and this would have revealed the precise nature of the interest which the plaintiff had in the land on which he erected the building. The negotiations crystalized into a binding contract on 21 January 1958. On that day, the defendants paid to the plaintiff the sum of £G1,000 being part payment of the purchase price. The plaintiff issued a written receipt (exhibit 1) in favour of the defendants in the following terms:

"I, Rev. J. E. Addo of Accra have this 21st day of January, 1958, received from the directors of Nyemimei Enterprises the sum of one thousand pounds (£G1,000) being part payment of my two plots of land with buildings thereon, including the furnishings, electrical and water installations, situate and lying at Fanofa off Ring Road East, Accra.

The property referred to above comprise of two plots of land measuring 150 ft. on the SOUTH, 140 ft. on the NORTH, 100 ft. each on the EAST and the