J.C.K. HAYFRON & ANOR vs GODWIN ANYIOGU & ANOR

This Ghana High Court land dispute pits JCK Hayfron & Anor, administrators of the estate of the late Robert K. Hayfron, against Godwin Uche Anyiogu and Janet Amuah over a 0.297-acre parcel at McCarthy Hill, Accra. The estate relied on a 1969 lease from Godwin Aggrey Fynn to Hayfron, registered in 1970, and alleged Anyiogu’s trespass and Amuah’s subsequent purchase. Anyiogu testified to a 1996 grant from the Oblogo family (head Nii Oblogo Lamptey), a 1998 building permit from the Ga District Assembly (Amasaman), construction of a dwelling house and wall in 1999, and later recognition of the Gbawe Kwatei family’s ownership with a 2009 indenture and public notice in The Spectator (2011). A court-appointed surveyor’s composite plan (CW2) showed the plaintiffs’ site plan fell outside the area hatched black as the disputed parcel, while the defendants’ plans matched it. Applying the Evidence Act and settled land-title jurisprudence on root, identity, and possession, the court held that the plaintiffs failed to discharge their burden, found Anyiogu in long, peaceful possession, rejected the trespass claim, dismissed all reliefs, and awarded costs of GH¢50,000 to the defendants.