MR. SENTI MICHAEL v. REV. FATHER MON KWAME & DR. ASOMAH

AMEGATCHER, JSC:-

The appellants Rev. Father Mon Kwame and Dr. Isaac Asomah are the named Executors in the Will of the late Thomas Asante Senti; also known in his lifetime as Nana Senti by reason of a chieftaincy title he held as the then Tufuhene of Techimantia. The appellants are in this court because they have appealed against the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting at Kumasi dated 22nd May, 2018. What then are the facts leading to this appeal?

FACTS:

Thomas Asante Senti died in Sunyani on 25th February, 2013. After his death, his Will was read at the High Court, Sunyani. His oldest son and plaintiff/respondent/respondent to this action entered a caveat against the Will.

After complying with the necessary processes under Order 66 of the High Court Civil Procedure rules C.I. 47, the respondent, qualified as a person who has or claims to have an interest in the estate of the deceased testator, invoked his rights under Order 66 rule 28 and instituted an action at the High Court, Sunyani against the executors to have the Will declared invalid.

The case of the respondent is that the testator in his lifetime held a Higher National Diploma Certificate in Dispensing Technology. He was very diligent and meticulous in all transactions with a high sense of clarity in all his documents. However, when he perused the purported Will, he noticed that it lacked clarity of expression which was contrary to the values of his father. This according to the respondent was the basis for the failure of the testator to give the exact description of his self-acquired properties such as his building plots, the registration numbers of his vehicles, names of banks he held accounts with and the account numbers. Apart from these, the respondent avers that the testator on the date he was alleged to have executed the purported Will, he was seriously sick and bedridden and could not validly make a Will. The respondent on these facts concluded that the purported Will was not the act and deed of his father and was procured by fraud so should be declared null and void.

After a full trial in which seven witnesses testified, the learned trial judge, John Bosco Nabarese J delivered his judgment on 21st July, 2015 in favour of the respondent. He declared the Will a forgery, null and void and set it aside. The appellants appealed to the Court of Appeal which on 22nd May, 2018 unanimously dismissed the appeal and confirmed the judgment of the trial court. It is from the judgment of the