BIZZACO LTD. VS ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP, ERIC K. BAFFOUR, ESQ.,
Areas of Law
- Constitutional Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Contract Law
- Commercial Law
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Plaintiff company sought compensation from AMA after its property on a government land was demolished by National Security. The court held that AMA's grant of the land to the Plaintiff was unlawful as it had no authority over government land, which is managed by the Lands Commission. The Plaintiff, fully aware that the land was government-owned, could not claim to have been misled. Consequently, the court dismissed the Plaintiff's claims and awarded costs against it.
On the George Walker Bush motorway, otherwise called N1, at the section at Abelemkpe, there is a piece of land by the highway which, until the 3rd and 23rd of May, 2014, was occupied by the Plaintiff and had been converted into a washing bay. Acting on concerns that the activities of the Plaintiff on the land posed a threat to motorists, coupled with a feud between the Plaintiff and residents of Abelemkpe, National Security was compelled to demolish the property of the Plaintiff on that piece of land.
The Plaintiff company claims, per the reliefs endorsed on its amended writ of summons, the following reliefs originally against National Security, the Attorney General, and Accra Metropolitan Assembly:
i. An amount of Ghc 486,190.19 being the total amount expended by the Plaintiff on its business operations on the aforesaid land from the date when the land was given to it to the date of the final demolition.
ii. Interest on the same at the prevailing Bank rate from the date of the issuance of this suit to the date of final payment of the same.
iii. Damages and compensation to be assessed by the court on a quantum meruit basis.
iv. A perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants, their agents, privies, and servants, and by extension, any other person or persons and/or entity from dealing with the land in any manner detrimental to the interest of the Plaintiff pending the determination of all matters before the Court.
v. Costs incurred by the Plaintiff inclusive of legal fees.
vi. Any other reliefs which may be ordered by this honourable court.
The suit was amended to delete the name of National Security as a party to the suit. Eventually, the Plaintiff discontinued the action against the Attorney General, making the AMA the only defendant in the suit. In view of the change in parties to the suit, the Plaintiff indicated that it has abandoned reliefs (iii) and (iv) endorsed on the writ.
In the amended statement of claim, the Plaintiff describes itself as a company that deals in the sale and rental of vehicles as well as the operation of washing bays. It applied for a parcel of land at Abelemkpe from the Defendant in October 2011 to be used as a washing bay. The Defendant initially granted it a temporary permit to be on the land to operate a washing bay. The Plaintiff had to spend GH¢25,000.00 to make the land suitable for a washing bay. The Defendant became satisfied with the good use the Plaintiff had put the land to and decided to execute a lease f