ELVIS YAW SAKYI & ANOR VS FRANCIS KWAKU AGYEMANG
2017
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE ANTHONY OPPONG
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Equity and Trusts
2017
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves a land dispute where the Defendant mistakenly built his retirement home on the Plaintiff's land. The court found that while the land belonged to the Plaintiff, the Defendant had acted in good faith when developing it. Applying the Land Development (Protection of Purchasers) Act, 1960 (Act 2), the court allowed the Defendant to keep his house on the Plaintiff's land to avoid hardship and injustice. Instead of granting the Plaintiff's request for an injunction and removal of the Defendant's house, the court ordered the Defendant to compensate the Plaintiff with the current open market value of the land. This decision balanced the property rights of the Plaintiff with the equitable considerations for the Defendant who had built his retirement home in good faith.
The case of the Plaintiff is that on 14th March, 1997, he acquired two plots of land from Nii Ayaa Odonkor.
There is an indenture to that effect, that is, Exhibit ‘B’. The subject matter of this acquisition is described as situate and lying at Ashongman, Accra and is bounded on the North by proposed road measuring 65feet more or less on the south by proposed road measuring 70feet more or less on the east by Assignor’s land measuring 190feet more or less on the west by Assignor’s land measuring 190feet more or less and containing an approximate area of 0. 29 acre more or less.
Plaintiff registered the land at the Land Title Registry and was issued with a Land Title Certificate number GA27507 dated 28th November, 2008. The Land Title Certificate was tendered and admitted as Exhibit ‘C’. Plaintiff, after the acquisition, entered the land and started developing a plot thereof.
He actually developed a four bedroom house on the land but the development of that house was not without challenge.
When Plaintiff was developing the land, one Madam Ama Biama Owusu confronted him that the land Plaintiff was developing belonged to her.
A surveyor’s service was engaged to investigate the claim of Madam Ama Biama Owusu and the investigation revealed that the land Plaintiff had developed actually belonged to the woman.
Consequently, Plaintiff could not help it but negotiated and paid her the open market value of the land.
Plaintiff thereafter engaged the services of one Mr. Adesa (PW2) from the Survey Department to use his expertise to locate where Plaintiff’s acquired land was on the ground.
That enquiry showed another mistake that has been committed by the Defendant.
It was discovered that just as Plaintiff had mistakenly built on Madam Ama Biama Owusu’s land, Defendant had also mistakenly built on Plaintiff’s land.
The evidence showed that at the time this mistake was discovered, Defendant had developed his house not to completion but was habitable and that Defendant and his family were actually in occupation of the uncompleted house.
This state of affair called for negotiation and possibly amicable settlement.
Defendant brought his grantor into the unfortunate melee.
Defendant’s grantor examined the Plaintiff’s document, Exhibit ‘B’ and realized that it was genuine as it was his father who granted the land to Plaintiff.
Nevertheless, in their quest to find a solution both Plaintiff and Defendant submitted their respective site plans to the Survey and Mappi