GIDEON AYIKU AKROFI v. MOSES QUAO MARTEY & OTHERS

WELBOURNE (MRS) JA

INTRODUCTION:

This is an appeal against the interlocutory Ruling of the High Court, Land Division Tema, delivered on the 29th day of September, 2017.

The Plaintiff/Appellant by virtue of an indenture dated the 17th day of January, 2006 between him and Benjamin Tetteh Kwao, the great grandson and paternal descendant of Nene Tettey Tormekpey of Awula-We, Old Ningo all that piece or parcel of land situate and lying and being at Bawaleshie (Adekensu) Accra covering an approximate area of 75.16 acres was gifted to him. This is evidenced in Exhibit “AK1” at page 16 of the Record of Appeal.

The Plaintiff/Appellant contends that the Defendants/Respondents herein have encroached on the said parcel of land and have brought bulldozers thereon and are grading same indiscriminately, vandalizing and destroying the Plaintiff/Appellant’s pillars and other materials on the land and are laying adverse claim thereto, pursuant to a Consent Judgment obtained from the High Court, Tema dated 19/04/2016.

This Consent Judgment was attached to the application at the Court below as Exhibit “AK3” and can be found at page 24 of the Record of Appeal. The Plaintiff/Appellant contends that this judgment i.e. Exhibit “AK3” was obtained by fraud and thus same should be set aside. This assertion can be found on the Writ of Summons and the Statement of Claim of the Plaintiff/Appellant and same spanned from pages 1 to 6 of the Record of Appeal.

It is the case of the Plaintiff/Appellant that considering the alarming and devastating rate of the degrading of the land by the Defendants/Respondents, if they are not restrained immediately by the Court, they will completely change the nature and character of the land before the final determination of the case thereby causing an irremediable loss and damage to the Plaintiff/Appellant. The Affidavit of the Plaintiff/Appellant at pages 9 to 10 of the Record of Appeal is apposite on this. To demonstrate to the Court the gravity of the degradation, photographs taken from the site were attached to the application as Exhibit “AK2”, “AK2a”, “AK2b” and “AK2c”. These photographs can be found at pages 20, 21, 22 and 23 of the Record of Appeal.

THE DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS’ CASE:-

The Defendants/Respondents vehemently opposed the application as being frivolous and vexatious but mainly on the grounds that the Plaintiff/Appellant’s grantor did not have capacity to make such a grant of the family land to the Plaintiff/Appellant, hence no t