ADU BEDIAKO v. KWAME ACHEAMPONG
2018
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- ANSAH, JSC (PRESIDING)
- DOTSE, JSC
- BAFFOE-BONNIE, JSC
- BENIN, JSC
- PWAMANG, JSC
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
- Contract Law
2018
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Plaintiff and Defendant, originally friends who engaged in business transactions, became embroiled in a legal dispute over the ownership and development of a leased property in Ghana. The Plaintiff claimed sole ownership and sought various reliefs, while the Defendant counterclaimed, asserting his interest in the property. The case, which spanned numerous rounds of litigation through the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court, ultimately resulted in a consistent ruling across the courts that both parties should equally share the property based on the 'equality is equity' principle. The Supreme Court dismissed the final appeal, affirming the previous decisions that emphasized an equal division of the property and the need for transparency in accounting.
DOTSE, JSC:-
William Shakespeare, that legendary and outstanding author of all times, in the Book of Macbeth, Act 1, Scene IV, attributed the following words to King Duncan who spoke in those glowing terms describing Macbeth after he won a battle on behalf of the Kingdom, oblivious of what actually lay in Macbeth’s mind at the material time.
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.”
There was indeed no process by which the Plaintiff/Respondent/Respondent, hereafter, Plaintiff would have known that his engagement with the Defendant/Appellant/Appellant hereafter Defendant who was reputed to be his friend at all material times would have become so tortious and rancorous later.
This relationship between the Plaintiff and Defendant in this case really gives proof to the above statement of Shakespeare, that there is indeed no process by which a person can determine the character of another by looking merely at his face alone..
FACTS
The Plaintiff who was at all material times ordinarily resident in France, returned to Ghana somewhere in 1996, acquired by lease dated 27th December 1996 a piece of land at Kokomlemle on the Newtown road from Vida Ayikailey Vanderpuje for a term of 35 years commencing from 15th January 1997 and in the process he and the Defendant became very close friends.
As a result of this relationship, the Plaintiff and Defendant engaged in series of business transactions which spanned a period of four (4) to five (5) years before matters came to a crescendo leading to the institution of the instant suit in the High Court by the Plaintiff against the Defendant in which he claimed the following reliefs against him:
1. “A declaration that the Plaintiff is the lessee of the piece of land described in the Statement of claim.
2. A declaration that the land was developed at the instance and with the resources of the Plaintiff.
3. An order for accounts
4. An order to pay to the plaintiff any outstanding amount with him with interest from the relevant date till date of payment at the prevailing bank rate.
5. An order of perpetual injunction to restrain the Defendant whether by himself or by his agents, servants, assigns or whosoever from renting or giving out stores in the building, using the building as security for a loan or other facility or dealing in any manner whatsoever with the land or the building on it.
6. An order for the return of the Plaintiff’s b