ALICE POKU v. SELINA OSEI NYARKO
2016
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- F.G. KORBIEH
- V.D. OFOE
- H.A. KWOFIE
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Property Law
- Evidence Law
2016
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The appeal was upheld, setting aside the trial court's ruling and dismissing the respondent's action for lack of capacity to sue. The trial court failed to consider critical evidence and misapplied legal principles regarding the burden of proof and capacity.
JUDGEMENT
F.G. KORBIEH, J.A.
The case (or better still, the cases) leading to this appeal have a very chequered history. I will however be very brief in tracing this history. In 1990, one Nana Appiawiah sued the defendant/appellant herein in the circuit court for a declaration of title to a piece or parcel of land lying, situate and being at “MILE 7 off Nsawam Rd., Accra measuring 167 ft. on the North-East by Lessor’s land measuring 100 ft. more or less on the North-West by the Lessor’s land measuring 100 ft. more or less and containing an approximate area of 0.36 acre more or less.” The defendant/appellant not only defended the action, she mounted a counter claim for a declaration of title to virtually the same land. Whilst the Nana Appiawiah’s claim was dismissed, the defendant/appellant’s counterclaim was granted and she was declared owner of the land. Thereafter it came to the notice of the defendant/appellant that Nana Appiawiah had obtained a land certificate on that very parcel of land. She therefore sued Nana Appiawiah in the High Court for a declaration of title to the land again, for possession and for the land certificate to be cancelled or revoked. The Land Title Registrar was therefore joined to the suit. The defendant/appellant got judgment and was granted all the reliefs she sought. Upon being granted a writ of possession, she entered the house erected on a portion of the land in dispute and proceeded to demolish it. The plaintiff/respondent herein, who claims to be the wife of Nana Appiawiah, issued a writ in the court below asking for three reliefs: (1) a declaration that the land on which house no. ANT/AB 75 Achimota, Accra is built is not part of the land affected by the High Court judgment in the case of Alice Poku v. Nana Appiawiah & Another; (2) perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, her agents, servants, and assigns from interfering with house no. ANT/AB 75 Achimota, Accra; (3) damages for trespass. The writ was accompanied by a statement of claim(subsequently amended) in which the plaintiff/respondent herein described the land of the defendant/appellant as being surrounded on three sides by her vendor’s property and on the fourth side by a road. She however described herself as the wife of Nana Appiawiah (mentioned supra) and claimed that ANT/AB 75 Achimota, Accra, which was built on adjoining land and which “measures 30 feet by 30 feet”, was built by her and her husband, the aforementioned Nana Appiawiah. The defence of