GRACE OSAEBEA FIANKO & others v. MATHEW AKOTUA ADDO & others

This High Court judgment by Justice Eudora Christina Dadson addresses a renewed land ownership dispute over House No. B386/6 at Abossey Okai, Accra, between the heirs of the late Nathaniel Fianko Akotuah and Mathew Akotua Addo, son of the late Daniel Tawiah Akotuah Addo. After the District Court, High Court, and Court of Appeal had all held that Daniel held the beneficial interest, the Supreme Court affirmed these concurrent findings in Civil Appeal No. J4/27/2006 (14 November 2007). In 2019, Nathaniel’s heirs sued again, alleging the Supreme Court judgment was procured by fraud and seeking declarations, cancellation of Daniel’s title registration, damages, and injunctions. The Court first struck out the Land Title Registry, noting it is merely a division within the Lands Commission and lacks corporate personality. Applying Section 13(1) of the Evidence Act, the Court concluded the Plaintiffs failed to prove fraud beyond reasonable doubt and, given the identity of parties, subject matter, and final merits adjudications, held that res judicata bars relitigation. The Defendant’s counterclaim for vacant possession also failed because no prior possession order existed.