ELDER ATTA JOHN v. AGNES POKU

J U D G E M E N T:-

The plaintiff caused to be issued a writ of summons against the defendant claiming

the following reliefs:-

1. Recovery of an amount of Three Thousand Ghana Cedis being the cost of

half building plot the defendant bought from the plaintiff in 2019 which is

situate at Domfete but the defendant had since failed to pay the above

stated sum to the plaintiff.

2. Costs.

The defendant resisted the claim by contending that she never negotiated with the

plaintiff for any parcel of land. That she acquired her land from one Charles Darko

(who testified as DW1) for valuable consideration.

The plaintiff’s case is that he owns a parcel of land at Domfete a suburb of Berekum.

That he received a call from one Esther Konama to come over to the land because

someone was using a bulldozer to clear the land for development. When he got to the

land, he saw the defendant, a surveyor and Esther Konama. Esther then asked the

defendant if she was interested in the land. Defendant responded in the affirmative

and promised to pay each of them GH₵3,000.00.

According to the plaintiff, the defendant had paid GH₵3,000.00 to the said Esther

Konama but has deliberately refused to pay him his share hence the instant action to

recover the promised amount of GH₵3,000.00.

Esther Konama who testified for the plaintiff averred that she shares boundary with

the plaintiff’s land at Domfete. She stated that she once visited her land and noticed

that defendant had used an earth-moving machine to clear a portion of her cocoa farm

and that of the plaintiff. They subsequently conducted an investigation and found out

that it was the defendant that had commenced some development on the land. The

defendant was invited and she told them that she purchased the land from Charles

Darko but she (defendant) was told that the land did not belong to Charles.

Following this revelation, the defendant promised to pay her and plaintiff an amount

of GH₵3,000.00 each to avoid litigation. Witness said she subsequently received an

amount of GH₵3,000.00 from the defendant but the plaintiff was denied his share

hence the instant action.

The defendant on her part, contends that she bought the subject matter of the instant

action from one Charles Darko (DW1) for valuable consideration. She explained that

she bought the property in the name of her husband by name Augustine Oppong who

lives in Spain. As a result, all the documents on the land bear her husband’s name.

The