July 24, 2019
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
BAFFOE–BONNIE, JSC, writing for the Supreme Court of Ghana, dismissed the tenants’ further appeal in a long-running dispute over the Edward Nassar Supermarket property in Kumasi. The 1st defendant owner had offered the property for sale through Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd; the plaintiffs purchased under an 11 February 1998 agreement, paid the price, and obtained Lands Commission consent on 29 April 1998. The co-defendants, sitting tenants, objected and claimed a right of first option, but their tenancy contracts contained no such clause and their asserted understanding was not pleaded or supported by evidence. The Court held there is no common law right of first refusal for sitting tenants; such rights must arise by contract or statute, and neither section 22 of the Conveyancing Act, 1973 (NRCD 175) nor the Rent Act, 1963 (Act 220) confers it. The appeal lacked merit; the High Court and Court of Appeal judgments were affirmed. The Court urged better case management to avoid unacceptable delay.
JUDGMENT
BAFFOE –BONNIE, JSC:-
We wish to place on record from the very onset that we find no merit in the appeal and therefore dismiss same. We believe that the judgment of the Court of Appeal discussed the very essential issues and more, and came to the right conclusions. We therefore see this short write up as confirming the very unassailable judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal.
This case commenced in the High Court, Kumasi on 12th October, 1998 and for more than twenty years it is still pending in the courts as the co-defendants have appealed against the judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 19th October, 2016. This is a sad narrative of the manner we deliver justice to law abiding parties who seek redress from our courts, particularly in a case such as this one which is quite straight forward. We hope that this delivery will signal the end of a matter which we believe could have been curtailed by resort to legal arguments.
The essential facts of the case are contained in documents tendered at the trial to be found in the record of appeal and not subject to serious contestation. The co-defendants were sitting tenants in landed property at Kumasi popularly called Edward Nassar Supermarket, owned by the 1st defendant. In 1997 the 1st defendant offered the property for sale through Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd. The plaintiffs purchased the property on terms contained in an agreement for sale dated 11th February, 1998 and paid the purchase price to Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd. Upon this, the 1st defendant applied to the Lands Commission, Kumasi for consent to formally assign the property to them and same was granted on 29th April, 1998. Thereafter, the 1st defendant notified the co-defendants that plaintiffs were the new owners of the property so thenceforth, they should deal with them.
The co-defendants took objection to the sale and in a letter dated 11th June, 1998 their lawyer wrote to the 1st defendant to protest, claiming that they were supposed to have been given the first option to purchase the property. In a response dated 21st July, 1998 the 1st defendant stated that the tenants were all along aware that the property was being sold but made no serious effort to purchase it. 1st defendant however purported to re-open the sale of the property to accommodate the co-defendants, but when Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd were contacted, they informed the co-defendants that the property had been sold already and there was nothing anyone could do to rever