GRACE ADU & DZIGBORDI EGBENYA v. MARTIN ANAGLATE & ORS
April 5, 2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO
Areas of Law
- Family Law
- Probate and Succession
- Evidence Law
- Civil Procedure
April 5, 2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This High Court judgment, authored by His Lordship Justice Kweku T. Ackaaah-Boafo, resolves a long-running succession dispute concerning the estate of the late Dr. Emmanuel L. Anaglate, a medical doctor formerly posted in Sunyani and Ho. Plaintiffs Grace Adu and Dzigbordi Egbenya sought recognition as surviving spouses and co-administrators, alleging they were customarily married to the deceased and that the 1st defendant, Martin Anaglate (the deceaseds brother and customary successor), and the 2nd defendant, Naomi Damptey (an acknowledged wife), had obtained Letters of Administration without their consent. The court evaluated testimony, exhibits including a 2010 family invitation letter and an obituary naming the plaintiffs as widows, and applied a modernized customary marriage framework. Rejecting rigid requirements for family participation from the mans side, the court found both plaintiffs were indeed customarily married. It canceled the earlier grant from the Circuit Court and ordered new Letters of Administration to include the plaintiffs, declining costs due to plaintiff-caused delays.
JUDGEMENT
i. Introduction
[1] It is often said that Justice is like a river. Because all rivers are not the same so is justice. Some rivers run off quickly to their ultimate destinations whilst others take time, a long time to travel, winding to their ultimate destination with many twists and turns. The justice for the parties in this case has seen many twists including a change of venue from the Brong Ahafo Region to the Greater Accra and change of Counsel. This case has taken many years to reach its final destination; but today, finally, the end is here. For the parties it is judgment day.
[2] I am of the respectful opinion that the history of this case makes it appropriate to prefix this judgment with the quote by the respected former Chief Justice of this Republic, Wood CJ (as she then was) in the case of AGYEMANG (Substituted by BANAHENE & OTHERS v. ANANE [2013-2014] 1 SCGLR 241 when she stated:
“The oft quoted legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied”, coined by the British politician, William Gladstone (1809-1898), is no mere cliché. The right to fair trial in a timely manner is neither a courtesy nor a favour, but a fundamental right. Protracted delays in the administration of justice, impact negatively not only on those who access the courts, such as the victims of crime, accused persons who are acquitted at the end of their trial, parties in civil proceedings and their privies, lawyers who practice before the courts but indeed the entire justice system. The judicial history of this relatively simple family related land matter, which was commenced in the High Court Kumasi, as far back as the 4th of April 1974, provides an insight into the harmful effects of systemic delays in the administration of justice. Regrettably, it has taken forty long years, a whole generation, for this case to finally find its way into this court; the court of last appeal. We hope court business shall always be managed in ways that will not occasion a repeat of this parody of justice”
[3] Sadly, it is clear the Plaintiffs in the instant case did not hear the lamentations of her Ladyship, the former Chief Justice of this Republic. This simple case has taken over a decade since it was first filed at the High Court in Sunyani on February 11, 2009. The matter was transferred shortly after it was filed per the Order of the Chief Justice to the High Court, Accra on June 9, 2009. After the transfer all that the Plaintiffs’ Counsel did was to write letters for