EDMUND MILLS VS LANDS COMMISSION

This High Court judgment by Her Ladyship Justice Ananda J. Aikins (Mrs) concerns an applicant’s attempt to compel the Lands Commission to engross a lease and deliver vacant possession of Plot No. 75 in the Cantonments Residential Area under the Government Residential Areas Redevelopment Scheme. After an initial GH28,000 cheque issued in January 2009 expired because the Commission did not present it, the Commission confirmed the allocation by letter dated 4 July 2011 requiring payment within one month. The court found the applicant’s CalBank payment orders were issued on 21 June 2012, nearly a year late, and later Ecobank orders were reissued in April 2019 without evidence the offer remained valid. Invoking the Evidence Act (NRCD 323) and the equitable maxim that one who seeks equity must do equity, the court held the applicant failed to act timeously and provided no credible proof of financial losses. The claims for specific performance, damages, and costs were dismissed.