July 30, 1946
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
Judgment :
In their original Statement of Claim the Plaintiffs claimed (1) Specific Performance of a settlement and an order upon both Defendants to discontinue a New Market situate at Ada and for the 1st Defendant to put the Market the subject of this suit in a state of repair, (2) £150 damages for the breach by the Defendants of the said agreement and (3) Perpetual Injunction to restrain the Defendants from further infringement of the terms of the settlement.
At the beginning of the hearing of the suit the Court gave leave to the Plaintiffs to file an alternative claim and on the 16th July, 1946 the following amendment to the Statement of Claim was duly filed:-
"The Plaintiffs claim in the alternative against the Tettey Ga family only, Declaration of their title as owners to the old Ada Foah
Market including the land on which it is situate and (b)£150 damages for the said defendants' (Tettey Ga family's) interference with the said market (c) as against the 1st defendant only specific performance of agreement dated on the 10th October, 1940 between the said 1st defendant representing the Native Administration and Plaintiff for control and management of the said Market by the 1st defendant."
The amendment was duly served on the defendants who filed their respective replies.
The 1st defendant's reply was as follows:-
"The Plaintiffs having violated the agreement dated 10th October, 1940 in the manner admitted by him are not entitled to the relief sought by him."
The 2nd defendants (Tettey Ga Family) also stated as follows:-
"The Tettey Ga Family admits that the old Ada Foah Market was built by Plaintiffs, but say that the land on which the market was erected is Tettey Ga Family land and Plaintiffs were only permitted by the said family of which they are members to erect the market on the site."
(2) "That the market was abandoned in 1943 whereupon the site reverted to the owners the Tettey Ga Family in accordance with Native Law and Custom."
(3) "The 2nd defendants deny that they ever interfered with the said market as alleged by the Plaintiffs or at all."
(4) "The Plaintiffs are not entitled to the relief sought or to any relief at all."
A reference to the original Statement of Claim and Defence filed by 2nd Defendants shows that as between the Plaintiffs and the 2nd Defendants the primary issue is the question of ownership of the Ada Foah Market which is the subject matter of this action.
The facts of the case as borne out by the evidence are
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AI Generated Summary
The dispute centers on the old Ada Foah Market and the land on which it sits. The Plaintiffs, children of G. A. Sappor, asserted individual ownership through a 1912 grant (Exhibit B) made by four principal heads of the Tettey Ga Family in recognition of Sappor’s redemption of family land from a pledge to J. D. Amartey. Sappor constructed the market, leased plots, and collected tolls until his death; in 1940 his children transferred market control to the Native Administration Treasury under a revenue-sharing agreement. Complaining of mismanagement and unmet repairs, they briefly suspended state control. The Manche convened an arbitration and tried to revive the market at the old site, but members of the Tettey Ga Family blocked necessary customary rites, established a new market elsewhere, and publicly claimed the land. The court found Exhibit B valid under Native Custom, declared the Plaintiffs owners, held the Family liable for interference and trespass, awarded £60 damages, and confirmed the 1940 agreement remained enforceable unless lawfully revoked.