ARYEE v. BLANKSON

Abban J of the High Court considered a motion by the defendant under Order 25, rr. 2 and 4 of the Supreme [High] Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 1954, originally also citing paragraph 85(2) of N.L.C.D. 84, to dismiss a land title action concerning a plot at Opete Kpakpo near Abossey Okai, Accra. The claimant traced title through the late Robert Anyai Yaotey, a subject of the Akumajey stool, based on a 1945 deed (No.1061/1945). The defendant argued that prior judgments—Nii Ayikai II, Akumajey Mantse v. Nii Abossey Okai II (affirmed by the Privy Council) and Emmanuel Mensah Blankson v. R. A. Tagoe—barred the claim by estoppel, urging dismissal without evidence. The claimant responded that Yaotey’s grant, as a subject of the victorious Akumajey stool, meant those judgments did not defeat his title. Emphasizing that courts must confine themselves to pleadings and that estoppel must be pleaded, Abban J held the application was misconceived. He directed the case should proceed to evidence on the agreed issues of title and entitlement and dismissed the application with costs.