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ANTHONY MENSAH & ORS v. SAMUEL MANU ABEYIE & ORS

2012

COURT OF APPEAL

GHANA

CORAM

  • MARIAMA OWUSU, J.A. (PRESIDING)
  • FRANCIS KORBIEH, J.A.
  • IRENE DANQUAH, J.A

Areas of Law

  • Property and Real Estate Law
  • Contract Law
  • Civil Procedure
  • Corporate Law
  • Tort Law

AI Generated Summary

Justice Mariama Owusu, J.A., presiding over a three-judge Court of Appeal panel (with Francis Korbieh, J.A., and Irene Danquah, J.A.), dismissed an appeal by traders occupying three store rooms in House No. OTB 128, Adum, Kumasi. The appellants—including Lims Limited, Madam Elizabeth Mensah, and Mr. and Mrs. Adu Boahene Owusu (Akosua Afrah)—claimed they had purchased the rooms from the 3rd respondent, Mrs. Alice Bedwei, and her late brother, Charles Abraham Haick, between 1993 and 1994, under agreements contemplating automatic renewal after any new head lease. The Government of Ghana later granted Mrs. Bedwei and her siblings a fresh 50‑year lease in September 2009, which was assigned to the 1st and 2nd respondents for redevelopment. Affirming the High Court’s preliminary determination under Order 33 of C.I. 47, the Court of Appeal held that the 1st and 3rd appellants lacked capacity (because Lims Limited, a separate legal person, contracted), and that any interests expired with the head lease; continued possession after expiry was trespassory. Any remedy of the 2nd appellant lay, if at all, in damages against the 3rd respondent. The appeal was dismissed and the High Court’s judgment affirmed.

JUDGMENT