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ERIC NII ARYEE MENSAH vs VICTOR AUSTIN

February 13, 2025

HIGH COURT

Areas of Law

  • Property and Real Estate Law
  • Evidence Law
  • Civil Procedure
  • Tort Law

AI Generated Summary

This land title and trespass case concerns a 0.42-acre parcel at Kwabenya, Greater Accra. Eric Nii Aryee Mensah traced his ownership to a 1999 lease to Gertrude Ampaw, a 2004 assignment to himself, and a 2012 lease regularization endorsed by the four branches of the Odai Ntow Family. Victor Austin asserted a 2003 purchase from Margaret Afi Tsikata and claimed a 2014 ratification before building a single room, fencing the land, and installing gates with a caretaker. A court-appointed Lands Commission surveyor produced a composite plan showing that the Defendant’s structures lay within the Plaintiff’s surveyed area and that one of Defendant’s site plans did not match the occupied ground. Applying Ghana’s Evidence Act and settled land-title principles, the court held that valid alienation of Odai Ntow lands requires four-branch concurrence; Defendant’s ratification lacked the recognized Abbey We head’s signature. The court declared Mensah the owner, awarded damages for trespass, ordered recovery of possession, granted a perpetual injunction, and made no order as to costs.

JUDGMENT