BENJAMIN QUARCOOPOME SACKEY v. ISSAKA A. MUSAH
2015
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- ANSAH JSC
- WOOD (MRS) CJ PRESIDING
- DOTSE JSC
- YEBOAH JSC
- BENIN JSC
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Constitutional Law
2015
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The case concerns a land dispute where the Respondent and Appellant each claimed title to the same land through different grantors. The trial Circuit Court ruled for the Appellant, but this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in favor of the Respondent. The Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted leave to appeal primarily to consider issues under the Land Title Registration Act. The Supreme Court emphasized the need for a survey to confirm the identity of the disputed land, which was critical to justly resolving the case.
DOTSE JSC:
This is an appeal by the Defendant/Respondent/Appellant, hereinafter referred to as the Appellant, who initially obtained judgment at the trial Circuit Court but which judgment was reversed by the Court of Appeal following an appeal by the plaintiff/Appellant/Respondent, hereinafter referred to as the Respondent.
FACTS OF THE CASE
The respondent averred that, he acquired the disputed land from the Asere Mantse Nii Akramah II in 1964 and was given a document. He also acquired a Land Title Certificate in 1992.
The appellant commenced building on the said land and the respondent reported the appellant’s alleged unlawful building to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Land Title Registry. The appellant however continued building, and the respondent sued the appellant in 1996 in the Circuit Court Accra for a declaration of title to land, damages for trespass, an injunction restraining the appellant from interfering with the land and recovery of possession of the disputed land.
The appellant on the other hand denied the respondent’s claims and challenged the validity of the title certificate, alleging that the said certificate was tainted by fraud. According to the appellant, he acquired the land from the allodial owners of the land initially from the Asere Mantse and when he was challenged, he then obtained a deed of lease from the acting head of the Nikoi Olai Stool family of Asere Djorshei in 1986. The appellant alleged that he had been in effective possession since 1972 and that the respondent was aware of the appellant’s said possession and registration of his interest before he allegedly registered his own at the Land Title Registry.
The appellant explained further that he actually acquired the land in 1972 from the Asere Mantse Nii Akramah II, but no document was issued to him even though he was immediately placed in possession. It was further alleged that in 1974, in the absence of the substantive Mantse, the appellant was directed to the then Asere elders of the stool, who executed an indenture in favour of the appellant in respect of the land. In 1986 the appellant was challenged by the Nikoi Olai family which claimed ownership of the entire area.
The appellant thus obtained a fresh conveyance of the land from the said family and registered the indenture at the lands department.
The appellant thus counterclaimed for a declaration of title to the land, an order that the respondent’s land title certificate was obtained by fraud, an