AMINA ASIBI aka AMINA HAUSA & ANOTHER vs YAW JOHN GYAN
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS H/L JUSTICE FREDERICK A.W.K. NAWURAH
Areas of Law
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The plaintiffs sought a declaration of title and possession of eight rooms in a house from the defendant and his tenants, arguing that their late father owned the property. The defendant counterclaimed, asserting the rooms were sold to his father's lessor, making his father a caretaker. The court examined evidence, including statutory declarations and property rate receipts, and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, granting them all reliefs claimed, including possession and injunctions against the defendant.
The plaintiffs claim against the defendant the following reliefs: a) Declaration of title and recovery of possession of eight (8) rooms being occupied by the Defendant and his tenants in H/No. D40, Wenchi.
b) An order for the recovery of rent collected by the Defendant from (4)tenants occupying six (6) rooms at the instance of the Defendant in the disputed house.
c) An order to eject the Defendant and his tenants because the Defendant has denied the title of the Plaintiffs to the disputed rooms. d) An order of injunction to restrain the Defendant, his agents, assigns, cohorts, etc.
from dealing with the disputed rooms in any manner.
The plaintiffs’ case, as can be inferred from their pleadings, is that, the disputed house, H/No. D40, Wenchi, was acquired by their late father, Amadu Rufai, several decades ago and he lived in it with his wife and children, including the Plaintiffs.
According to the Plaintiffs, their father died and the house in dispute devolved onto them, as his surviving children, and their mother, Fati Amadu.
Along the line, the Defendant’s father, Opanin Kojo Gyan, came to occupy a portion of the house in dispute as a licensee of their brother, Awudu Amadu, and he lived there with his wife and children.
Their brother, Awudu Amadu, later died and the 1st Plaintiff and 2nd Plaintiff subsequently relocated to Kumasi, leaving their mother and the Defendant’s father with his family in the said house.
Over the course of the years, the Plaintiffs’ mother and the Defendant’s father also died whilst the Plaintiffs’ other siblings also relocated from the house, thus, leaving the Defendant in possession of the house.
The Plaintiffs went on to state that, upon the vacation of the house by their siblings, the Defendant quickly rented out six of the rooms in the house which had been occupied by his (Defendant’s) father and his family to tenants and has kept the proceeds to himself as if he was the owner of the house.
As a result, the Plaintiffs summoned the defendant before the Wenchi Office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for a resolution of the matter but the Defendant laid adverse claim to eight of the rooms in the house claiming that his late father bought those rooms from their father.
It is the case of the Plaintiffs that the actions of the Defendant are inconsistent with the terms of the license granted to the Defendant’s father by the Plaintiff’s father, hence their prayer for the reliefs endorsed