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JUDGMENT
The defendant who is alleged to have trespassed unto the plaintiff’s land is not known
to the plaintiff and despite the service on him of all processes via substituted service by
the plaintiff, has never revealed his identity all through the lifespan of this cause nor
has he turned up to contest the claims. The said defendant has been conveniently referred to as the “Trespasser” and this judgment shall not stray from that term when
referring to him.
The Plaintiff on 14th May, 2021 filed Writ of summons against the Defendant and
endorsed the following reliefs:
a. A declaration that the Defendant is a trespasser to the land, subject matter of the suit.
b. Recovery of possession of land described hereto above from the Defendant.
c. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant, his assigns, privies or
whosoever from developing, building, selling, assigning, among others over the
land subject matter of the instant suit.
d. Damages for trespass against the Defendant.
e. Costs including legal fees.
FACTS IN BRIEF
The Plaintiff avers in her statement of claim that she acquired a parcel of land situated
at Opeikuma, a residential area layout in the Awutu Senya District in the Central
Region of the Republic of Ghana. The said land was acquired from the Internal Revenue
Service (now Ghana Revenue Authority) for valuable consideration. An indenture was
executed between the Internal Revenue Service as Assignor and Plaintiff as Assignee to
cover the parcel of land in dispute. The Plaintiff took possession of the said land and
immediately brought unto the land 3000 blocks, a trip of sand, a trip of stones to
commence her project. The Plaintiff says due to ill health, she could not develop the
land till somewhere in the year 2018. She visited the property and to her surprise, the
land was being developed by the Defendant. All efforts to get the Defendant to stop the construction or development exercise on the land proved futile hence her decision to
bring the instant action against the trespasser.
After all pre-trial motions, the following issues were set down for determination:
ISSUES
a. Whether or not the Plaintiff is the owner of the said parcel of land?
b. Whether or not the Plaintiff is entitled to her reliefs?
c. Any other issues arising from the pleadings.
BURDEN ON THE PLAINTIFF
Section 10(1) and (2) of the Evidence Act 1975 (NRCD 323) define the burden of
persuasion as follows:
10(1) “For the purposes of this Act, b