JEMIMA NASSU & OTHERS v. THE BASEL MISSION AND ANOTHER.
July 10, 1915
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS HONOUR SIR PHILIP CRAMPTON SMYLY, KNIGHT, CHIEF JUSTICE
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Tort Law
- Probate and Succession
July 10, 1915
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Chief Justice, Sir Philip Crampton Smyly, adjudicated a trespass claim brought by Jemima Nassu, Kofi Acquah, Afuah Acquah, Amponsan Acquah, Fatumah Nassu, and Richia Nassu against the Basel Mission, with vendor Mrs. Van Hein joined under the Supreme Court Ordinance. The land at Adabrakar, Accra, part of the Brazilian settlers’ allocation by Ga chiefs, was historically associated with Mama Nassu. Smyly traced prior litigation (1879, 1888, 1895, and 1912) and assessed evidence on family succession, determining a chain from Peregrino to Mattier to Henry Plange and to Mrs. Van Hein as head of the family. He found that the majority of the family approved a sale of the specific portion to the Basel Mission, and applied native (Accra/Fanti) customary law emphasizing matrilineal descent. Because plaintiffs’ claims rested upon male-line succession, and the sale was family-authorized, the court held there was no trespass and entered judgment for the defendants with costs.
In this action the following Plaintiffs Jemima Nassu, Kofi Acquah, Afuah Acquah, Amponsan Acquah, Fatumah Nassu, and Richia Nassu, on behalf of themselves and the other members of their family, sued the Basel Mission, to whom, Mrs. Van Hein their Vendor, was subsequently joined as a co-defendant under Order III rule 4 of the second schedule of the Supreme Court Ordinance.
The Plaintiffs' claim, is on behalf of themselves and the other members of their (the Nassu) family, £500 damages for trespass committed by the Defendants on Plaintiffs land, situate at Adabrakar, Accra, and bounded on its three sides by land in the possession of Mr. J. Sackey, Mr. J. E. Maslieno, and the Gold Coast Government respectively, and on its fourth side by the Asylum road. As the land of which this forms a portion has been litigated over in 1879 before Mr. Justice Marshal, in 1888 before Mr. Justice Smith, in 1895 before Sir William Brandford Griffith, and in 1912 before myself, I have allowed the parties a lattitude, which I would not have otherwise done in the hope of bringing this litigation to a stop. Before going further it will be necessary to give a short history of these lands.
It appears that as far back as the thirties a ship load of Africans were landed from the Brazils, where they were taken from the Niger. After they were landed, the Ga Chiefs gave them land to build on in the town of Accra, and also bush land to cultivate, these lands were divided up amongst the Brazilians by their head man Sokoto, and the land in dispute forms a portion of the land known as Mama Nassu's land. Mama Nassu being one of the Brazilians,
to whom land was a signed Areording to the case of the Defendant Mrs. Van Hein, Mana Nassu's party consisted of Mana Nassu, a woman ealled Adjuma, whom Mama Nassu called his sister, and her three children Peregrino, Claude and Mattier, the last born on the vorage here.
Mrs. Van Hein clains that Adjuma was the cousin of Mama Nassu her mother and Mama Nassu's mother beins sisters out of the sane womb, that according to Native Lall, Adjuma's eldest son Peregrino succeeded Mama Nassu as Onulipa or head of the family, that after his death he was succeeded by his brother Mattier. during whose lifetime when he was away from Accra Mrs. Plange the daughter of Adjuma acted as head for Mattier, and after his death Mrs. Plange having died at an earlier date, Mattier was succeeded as head by ILenry Plange, Mrs. Plange's eldest son, and after Henry Plange's death