KWABENA APPIAH v. DAVID KWABENA AKUOKU

JUDGMENT

MARIAMA OWUSU, J.A:

On 7-5-2010, the High Court [Land Division], Accra, dismissed the plaintiff/appellant’s [hereinafter refer to as plaintiff] claim for a declaration of title to a parcel of land in Accra and other ancillary reliefs sought against the defendant. Dissatisfied with the decision of the High Court, the plaintiff appealed to this Court.

In a nutshell, the plaintiff’s case was that the disputed land was sold to him by one Madam Doreen Boatemaah Bitihene for valuable consideration sometime 1995. The said Assignment is witnessed by a Deed of Assignment dated 25-7-1995 and stamped as LVB 8753/04 and AR/GB/520/95. The plaintiff averred further that, on acquisition of the land, he went into immediate possession, erected corner pillars and constructed the concrete foundation for a house on the plot. It is the plaintiff’s case that, to his shock and surprise and in spite of numerous warnings, the defendant/respondent [hereinafter refer to as defendant] forcibly entered onto parts of his land and constructed a house on the plot. He concluded that, defendant’s action is a violation of his rights to his property and planned user of the land hence this action.

On his part, the defendant denied plaintiff’s claim and put the latter to strict proof of the averments contained in the statement of claim. In particular, the defendant averred that, he acquired the land in dispute from the Legal Owners of the land, the Ga, Gbese and Korle Stools on 13-6-1995 and was given a document to that effect. The defendant continued that, he registered the document at the Lands Commission as AR/GB/456/95.

It is the defendant’s case that; he immediately went into possession by building on the land but was stopped by the Ga District Assembly for building without permit. He subsequently obtained the building permit from the Ga District Assembly in October 2002 and continued with the development of the land. He built two bedrooms on the land and put his family in the said rooms before travelling abroad. Whilst abroad, the defendant continued, he took up extra jobs to earn extra monies which he sent down to his attorney in Ghana to continue the building. By 2004 a five bedroom house had been completed on the disputed land. He has since allowed his other relatives to move into the house and joined his wife and children.

The defendant concluded that all these dealings with the disputed land went on without any opposition from the plaintiff from 2000 to 2006. He