LARYEA MARTEYE & ORS v. ABUBAKARI MOHAMMED & ORS

GAEWU JSC;

My Lords, this appeal is against the judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 15th December 2022 wherein the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the High Court (Land Division), Accra, dated 30th July 2019 dismissing the Plaintiffs/Appellants/Appellants claims endorsed on their Writ of Summons initiating an action against the defendants. Dissatisfied with the decision, the Plaintiffs/Appellants/Appellants filed a Notice of Appeal in this Court on 11th January 2023 on ground contained therein seeking to set aside the judgments of the High Court dated 30th July 2019 and the Court of Appeal judgment dated 15th December 2022 and for judgment to be entered for the Appellants.

The proceedings in this case emanated from an earlier case which involved the parties herein. In the circumstances, the use of the description of the parties in this appeal as ‘Plaintiffs’ and ‘Defendants’ can be misleading as to whether the reference is to the first case or this present case.

Therefore, in order to avoid the confusion, we shall in this judgment refer to the parties by their personal names in the following manner; 1st Plaintiff/Appellant/ Appellant shall be ‘Marteye”, the 2nd Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant shall be ‘Tahiru’. The 1st Defendant/Respondent/Respondent shall be ‘Abubakari’, whilst the 2nd Defendant shall simply be “Jamil”.

The background to this present case is that, on 13th June 2016, the High Court (Land Division), Accra delivered judgment in favour of Abubakari and against Jamil in Suit No. FAL/800/2015 intituled Abubakari Mohammed v. Jamil Iddriss for the following reliefs:

1.Declaration of title to all that piece or parcel of land situate, and lying at Martey Tsuru and containing an approximate area of 0.17 acres or 0.07 hectares and bounded on the North-East by lessor’s land measuring 84.2feet more or less, on the South- East by a proposed road measuring 95.9feet more or less, on the South-West by lessor’s land measuring 59.7 feet more or less, on the North-West by lessor’s land measuring 117.9 feet more or less.

2.Recovery of possession

3.An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant (Jamil), his grantors and privies, assigns, agents, workmen, and all who cometh unto the land in the name and authority of the defendant (Jamil) from entering and/or having anything whatsoever to do with the land.

4.Damages for trespass.

5.Cost of the suit.

It was a judgment obtained in default against Jamil as he did not enter appearance no