NANA OKYERFO BENTUM VS KOJO EWUSI & ORS
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE BERNARD BENTIL
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Evidence Law
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Plaintiff, acting as head of the Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang, accused the 1st Defendant of fraudulently registering family lands in his own name and selling parts of it to third parties. The Plaintiff sought legal redress, claiming ownership over the lands and seeking nullification of the 1st Defendant's actions. The Defendants countered, arguing that the matter had already been settled in an earlier arbitration which ruled in favor of the 1st Defendant and established the existence and headship of the Tekyina family of Gomoa Amoanda. The High Court considered the legality of the previous arbitral decision, the Plaintiff’s evidence of ownership, and fraud allegations. After evaluating both traditional and recent acts of ownership, the court ruled against the Plaintiff, upholding the 1st Defendant's claims and awarding costs against the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff is a principal elder and head of the Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana.
The Plaintiff describes the 1st Defendant as a member of the family and the 2nd Defendant as an estate development entity as well as a trespasser on the Plaintiff’s family land.
According to the Plaintiff, the Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang has had only one head and the Plaintiff is presently the only head of the family.
The Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang is a very large family possessing lands situate at Gomoa Akramang, Gomoa Amoanda and Kwagyan Kwaa village near Agona Mankrong.
The Plaintiff maintains strongly that there is only one Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang and that there is no Tekyina family of either Gomoa Amoanda and/or Kwagyan Kwaa village near Agona Mankrong.
The Plaintiff states that, apart from the family land situate at Gomoa Akramang which is under his direct care, it is the custom for the head of the Tekyina family of Gomoa Akramang to appoint a caretaker over the family lands situate at Gomoa Amoanda and Kwagyan Kwaa village near Agona Mankrong.
Sometime ago, one Kwame Otabil, who was domiciled in the United Kingdom and his sister, Kwegyirwa Rose Abeka, both of whom are member of the Tekyina family suggested to the Plaintiff the need to prepare a site plan of all the Tekyina family lands beginning with the family land at Amoanda.
Being members of the family, the Plaintiff gave his approval for the exercise to be undertaken.
The Plaintiff further states that, it recently came to his notice that the said Kwame Otabil and Kwegyirwa Rose Abeka indeed caused two site plans to be prepared for all that land described in paragraph 11 of the Plaintiff’s Further Amended Statement of Claim filed on 13th December, 2022. Again, the Plaintiff states that it came to his notice that the 1st Defendant who was the current caretaker of the Tekyina family land situate at Gomoa Amoanda, has fraudulently used the two site plans prepared for the family to prepare Statutory Declarations in his own name and had proceeded to register same at the Registry of the 3rd Defendant.
The particulars of the fraud as outlined in the Further Amended Statement of Claim are as follows: i. 1st Defendant connived with Kwame Otabil and Kwegyirwa Rose Abeka to deceive the Plaintiff into giving his approval for the preparation of the site plan of Tekyina family land at Gomoa Amoanda.
1st Defendant knew that the subject maꢀer piece of land is the pro