HAUSA AND ANOTHER v. DAWUDA

JUDGMENT OF OLLENNU, J.

This case commenced in the Accra West Local Court by writ of summons issued on the 3rd October, 1960. The claim is for statement of accounts of rents and mesne profits realised from house No. L.764/26, covering a period of eighteen months ending in August, 1960. The co-plaintiff was joined upon an allegation that he is "the representative of the Korle-We people who granted the land on which the building in issue is situate".

At its best, the evidence led on behalf of the plaintiffs in support of the claim was most indifferent; but as the determination of this appeal turns upon the question of jurisdiction, it is better not to make any further observations on the merits of the case.

When the case for the plaintiffs closed, the defendant filed submissions alleging, among other things, that the land with the buildings thereon, subject-matter of the suit, was valued at about £G800, and therefore he was objecting to the jurisdiction of the local court to hear the case. The plaintiff filed a twelve-paragraph reply to those submissions, but all she said in her reply to the submission as to the value of £G800 is that she had contributed substantially to the cost of erection of some of the buildings on the land. The impression she left is that she did not dispute the said valuation. The local court magistrate overruled the objection to his jurisdiction in the following terms:

"I am unable to understand the reasonableness, potentiality or otherwise of these submissions by the defendant; defendant failed to cross-examine plaintiff or plaintiff's witness and never gave reasons. Submissions by the defendant unacceptable. Evidence by plaintiff’s witnesses stand legally accepted by the court."

The defendant then led evidence and produced plans, building permit and other documents relating to the land and the buildings thereon. It is common ground that the buildings on the land consist of seventeen rooms; one block of the buildings which contains five rooms, appear upon the evidence to have been built of cement concrete blocks.

At the conclusion of the case of the parties, the local court magistrate inspected the land, and thereafter gave judgment in favour of the plaintiff.

The first ground of appeal argued in this court is that the local court had no jurisdiction in the suit since the subject-matter was worth more than £G200, and the defendant objected to the court hearing the case.

The local court is a court of limited jurisdiction. Its