MRS AKUA BAA BAAFI v. MR. ALFRED ABOTSI
February 12, 2025
DISTRICT COURT
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Evidence Law
- Civil Procedure
- Contract Law
February 12, 2025
DISTRICT COURT
AI Generated Summary
This District Court judgment arises from a tenancy dispute over shop E36/322 at GICEL. Mrs. Akua Baah Baafi, trading as Makenzie Enterprise, rented the shop in 2006. Her caretaker, Emmanuel Manful, without her consent, installed Alfred Abotsi in the premises around 2007. Over years, Abotsi paid irregularly and, following a 2018 tenants’ association directive, halted rent entirely. After GICEL demanded arrears in March 2022, Baafi sought recovery through the Weija Rent Office, and on 15 June 2022 Abotsi agreed to vacate within six months but failed to do so. The Senior Rent Manager ordered him to vacate by 30 June 2023; he remained, leading to a referral to the court for ejectment under the Rent Act. Applying the Evidence Act and Rent Act, the court found Baafi the owner and ordered immediate possession, arrears and utilities payment, and costs of GHC30,000.
The plaintiff applied for an order of possession of shop number E36/322 and rent arrears against the defendant at the Weija Rent Office on 8th June 2022. Both parties appeared before the Senior Rent Manager sitting at the Rent Office on 10th January 2023. The Senior Rent Manager found that the tenancy of the defendant expired on 30th June 2022 and even though he had been served with a six-month ejection notice to quit the premises by 31st
December 2022, he had failed to vacate from the premises. Defendant pleaded for time to vacate from the premises and as a result the Senior Rent Manager ordered defendant to vacate the premises by 30th June 2023. On 3rd July 2023, defendant was still in occupation of the premises compelling the Senior Rent Manager to refer the matter to this court
pursuant to Form 9, regulation 13 of the Rent Regulation 1946 (LI 369) for an effective order to be issued under section 17(1)(g) of the Rent Act 1963 (Act 220) to eject defendant
from the premises forthwith and make such order as to costs or in connection with the proceedings.
Defendant filed a defence on 22nd August 2023. Plaintiff filed a reply to defendant’s defence on 12th September 2023.
THE CASE OF PLAINTIFF
It is the case of the plaintiff that sometime in the year 2006, she rented shop number E36/322 the subject matter of this dispute from the Ghana Industrial and Commercial Estates Limited (GICEL) to operate a business under the business name Makenzie Enterprise.
It is the further case of the plaintiff that throughout the time she kept the shop, she paid rent regularly to GICEL.
She added that during a period when she could not operate the shop in 2009, Emmanuel Manful a driver to her husband who was then working with GICEL approached her to let out the shop. Without notice to her, he let out the shop to the defendant whom she did not know personally. She has since then consistently asked Emmanuel Manful to eject the defendant from her shop.
According to her, for the period that the defendant occupied the shop, he did not pay rent regularly for the shop either to GICEL or to her even though she had asked Emmanuel Manful to have him pay for the use of the shop to GICEL in order to prevent the accumulation of rent or debt in her business name.
She averred that she was surprised when GICEL sent her a letter dated March 31, 2022 demanding an outstanding rent of GHC6,412.51 and threatening to eject her from the shop by the end of April 2022 for nonpayment of rent.