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March 22, 1968
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF KINGSLEY-NYINAH J.
By consent of both counsel and parties herein, this particular suit No. L.202/63 was taken as a test case in place of each and all of the others: namely, suit Nos. L.203/63 and L.204/63. And the second plaintiff herein, again by consent, stood in for the plaintiffs in the other causes. The same went for the defendants Kwabena Agyarko, Kwadwo Kwampa and J. K. Duah, the first of whom, by agreement and consent, stood in as defendant for and on behalf of the others in the other suits.
This was an action whereby the plaintiffs, (upon whose parcels of land the defendants had lived and farmed since 18 May 1954) claimed from and against the defendants, as per the writ of summons filed herein:
(i) Declaration of title.
(ii) The sums of £G486 0s. 0d.(suit No. L.202/63) and £G243 0s. 0d. (suit No. L.203/63) and £G592 0s. 0d. (suit No. L.203/63)—all totalling £G1,321 0s. 0d. and representing "half shares of cocoa proceeds plucked from the said land by the defendants" and due and owing to the plaintiffs as landlords.
(iii) Recovery of possession.
Each and all of the portions of land herein is and are upon Pankese stool land and is and are situated at a place commonly known as and called Jadeso. And there is no dispute in this case as to the fact that the plaintiffs herein acquired the said lands absolutely by purchase from the Pankese stool, way back in 1925.
The case of each and all of the plaintiffs in these suits was specifically set out in the statements of claim filed in support of the writs [p.295] of summons, the former documents setting out, clearly the history of the portion of land in dispute and the relationship of the parties herein, that relationship being founded in the customary tenancy of abusa, and governed by a written agreement dated 18 May 1954.
By paragraph (3) of the plaintiffs' statement of claim, the terms of the written agreement of 18 May 1954 (tendered as exhibit A) were that each and all of the defendants would take and cultivate the Jadeso lands on the following terms:
"(a) That the defendant would cultivate the land and plant cocoa trees thereon at his own expense.
(b) That he would occupy the said land for a period of four years free without accounting to the plaintiffs from 18 May 1954.
(c) That the defendant would be entitled to one third of the proceeds of his labour . . . but not to the land.
(d) That the defendant paid the amount of £G10 to the plaintiffs as the customary or stamping fee o
AI Generated Summary
This test case from the Circuit Court at Koforidua involves cocoa farms at Jadeso on Pankese stool land privately purchased by the plaintiffs in 1925. In 1954, the plaintiffs granted defendants parcels under exhibit A, an abusa tenancy with a four‑year moratorium, after which proceeds would be shared two‑thirds to landlords and one‑third to tenants; each defendant paid £G10. In 1962, the parties varied the arrangement to abunu (half shares) and extended the free period to six years. Plaintiffs demanded shares in 1958, 1960, and 1962; defendants refused, relying on the Rents (Stabilization) Acts and contesting yields. The court found the farms began yielding by 1958, rejected defendants’ statutory arguments because the land was privately purchased and not stool‑held vis‑à‑vis the parties, interpreted the moratorium from the date of grant, and held the agreements binding as varied. The court confirmed title, denied ejectment, ordered payment of half‑share proceeds totaling £G1,321, dismissed the counterclaim, and awarded costs, noting the statutory scheme’s repeal by N.L.C.D. 49.