KWAME APEMASU v. MADAM LYDIA ADOMAH
2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- A. M. DOMAKYAAREH (MRS) J. A. PRESIDING
- A. B. POKU-ACHEAMPONG, J. A.
- S. K. A. ASIEDU, J. A.
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Evidence Law
- Equity and Trusts
- Civil Procedure
2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
In this Ghana Court of Appeal decision arising from a family land dispute, the Plaintiff, mother-in-law to the Defendant, claimed House No 9A Block F, Asuoyeboa-Kumasi, asserting she bought the plot with funds remitted by her daughter Cecilia from France and built the house, entrusting documents to the Defendant. The Defendant, who occupied the property with his wife and rented rooms, relied on an allocation note and site plan in his name and argued self-acquisition and funding from his own earnings. Affirming the trial court, Poku-Acheampong, J.A., analyzed the civil standard of proof under NRCD 323, the presumption of ownership from possession and documents (s.48), and resulting trust principles. Crediting corroborated testimony from the grantor (PW3), caretaker (PW1), and friend (PW5), the court held that Plaintiff rebutted the presumption and was the true owner. The appeal was dismissed and the judgment affirmed.
POKU-ACHEAMPONG, J.A.:
This is an appeal against the judgment of the Circuit Court Kumasi dated 8th April 2016. It is a dispute over the ownership of a plot of land with a building thereon involving a mother in-law and a son in-law as Plaintiff and Defendant in the original suit.
In a writ of summons issued on 9th May 2003 against the Defendant the Plaintiff claimed the following reliefs:
(a) A declaration of title to plot number 9A Block F Asuoyeboa, Kumasi
(b) Recovery of Possession.
(c) Perpetual Injunction
The Defendant in his Statement of Defence filed on 19/06/03 also counterclaimed for:
a. Declaration that House No 9A Block F is the Defendant’s self-acquired property.
b. Perpetual injunction restraining the Plaintiff, her agents and or assigns from claiming the property as hers.
For ease of reference the Plaintiff/Respondent shall be referred to as Plaintiff in this judgment and the Defendant/Appellant as the Defendant. They shall retain their original designations at the trial.
Facts of the Case/Background
The Plaintiff is the mother in-law of the Defendant who claims ownership of the disputed property known as House No 9A Block F Asuoyeboa-Kumasi. The Plaintiff’s case is that she acquired the plot of land with funds remitted to her by her daughter who lived and worked in France for close to two decades. The Defendant and his wife, the daughter of Plaintiff, engaged in money lending business with these remittances sent to Plaintiff and this generated some income. The Defendant and his wife (Plaintiff’s daughter) later on urged Plaintiff to use the money together with the interest earned thereon to acquire a plot of land at Asuoyeboa.
The Plaintiff claims that in the company of the Defendant she went with one Kofi Agyemang, PW1, and one Ollabodey, PW5, and paid for the plot of land.
Plaintiff states further that she directed the Defendant to collect the Allocation Note issued in respect of the acquisition of the land and keep same for her. With the assistance of her daughter in France Plaintiff claims that she put up a house on the plot. She allowed the Defendant and his wife, her daughter, to live in the disputed house with Plaintiff’s child and two grandchildren.
According to the Plaintiff when she wanted to move into her house upon completion the Defendant claimed ownership of the house. She contacted her grantor who informed her that the Defendant had told her, the grantor, that the Plaintiff and her daughter in France had directed