2021
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Diana Abena Amoakoaa sued her father and, later, her siblings in the Circuit Court at Koforidua, claiming sole ownership of the main building and Plot No. 56 Block D at Jumapo and seeking an injunction. She alleged her mother, Gladys Adjei, bought the land for her and that documents and a building plan in her maiden name supported her claim. The father maintained he bought the land in January 1965 from Kwame Sarpong (alias Robin Hood), prepared site and building plans in Diana’s name intending the property for all six children, later changing it to the youngest, Angela Amponsah Yeboah, in trust. The Circuit Court rejected Diana’s claim, declared title to the land in the father, and held the building jointly owned. On appeal, the Court of Appeal reheard the case under Rule 8(1), found the appellant’s documents not conveyances, noted siblings’ contributions, rejected advancement and proprietary estoppel, recognized a resulting trust, varied the vesting of land title, and dismissed the appeal.
ANTHONY OPPONG, JA
In this case, a daughter, plaintiff, sued her father, the 1st defendant at the Circuit Court, Koforidua. His other children, the siblings of plaintiff, joined the suit as other defendants. Her claim was that her mother, one Gladys Adjei, who was, at one time, the wife of 1st defendant, purchased for her a piece of land when she was very young. She claimed that all documents on that piece of land and a building plan were made in her maiden name, Diana Abena Amoakoaa and that the documents had been registered. She also claimed that she put up a building on the land.
Plaintiff sued the 1st defendant because 1st defendant disputed her claim of ownership of the property; the land and the building. In the suit at the Circuit Court, Plaintiff, by way of reliefs sought for:
“Declaration of title to the main building unnumbered and plot No. 56 Block D, situate at Jumapo and perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, his agents, assigns and heirs etc from making further adverse claims of ownership to the said house”
The 1st defendant refuted the claims of his daughter, the plaintiff. He claimed to have bought the land from one Kwame Sarpong alias Robin Hood (deceased) in January, 1965. The 1st defendant stated that he caused the plan of the building to be prepared in the name of plaintiff, who was the eldest daughter of his children, with the intention of building a house on the plot of land for the plaintiff and her other five siblings. However, according to 1st defendant, when plaintiff started threatening to appropriate the property to herself after the death of 1st defendant, he effected change of name on the site plan and the building permit from the name of plaintiff and instead used the name of his youngest child, Angela Amponsah Yeboah in trust for her and all the other siblings including plaintiff.
In effect, whilst plaintiff claimed the building as her self acquired property, the defendant contended that the building is jointly owned by plaintiff and his other children who subsequently applied and joined the suit as the other defendants on the 11th August 2016. See page 33 of the record of appeal record of appeal.
At the end of the trial, in the judgment of the learned Circuit Court judge dated 17th January, 2020 and found at pages 345-358 of the record of appeal, she concluded that plaintiff is not the sole owner or sole beneficiary of the property in dispute and so plaintiff’s claims against the defendants failed. The Circu