ARMAH v. LANDS COMMISSION, ACCRA AND OTHERS

In the Ghana High Court, AMPIAH J. considered an interlocutory application by a landowner seeking to restrain two lessees from entering and developing a parcel previously owned by her. The applicant had become the absolute owner under a deed of conveyance dated 21 May 1958 (No. 1449/1958). In 1968, by Executive Instrument E.I. 85, the Government compulsorily acquired the land, vesting it in the Lands Commission for a new Accra‑Odorkor cemetery, but the cemetery was never built. Instead, the Lands Commissioner purported to lease a portion, including the applicant’s land, to the second and third defendants under a lease dated 19 January 1976 (No. 602/1976), who began building. The applicant, represented by Mr. Lamptey, argued that her constitutional property rights—preserved by section 15(3) of the National Redemption Council (Establishment) Proclamation, 1972, and article 18(1) and (5) of the 1969 Constitution—entitled her to the first option to reacquire the land when not used for the stated public purpose. Applying Order 50, r.7(1) of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules and the caution in Vanderpuye v. Nartey, the court focused on interim preservation, found compensation inadequate and that restraining the respondents would not cause them hardship (given an ex parte order allowing work elsewhere), and granted an interim injunction with costs of ¢40.