November 14, 2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This High Court land title dispute pitted the administrators of the estate of Charles Torgbui Tetteh against the 1st and 2nd Defendants over a Laterbiokorshie, Accra parcel allegedly acquired by a 1951 deed from Emma and Helena Mills of the Ablorh Mills Family. The Plaintiffs relied on registration and long possession, and asserted the 1st Defendant initially operated on the land by permission; they also challenged the 2nd Defendant’s registered interests as fraudulent. The Court examined both chains of title and found both parties traced to the Ablorh Mills Family. Critical historical evidence showed Joseph William Blankson Mills, head of the family until 1948, conveyed the land to Nah Kudjah in 1947, predating the Plaintiffs’ 1951 deed, so the estate could not include the disputed land. Plaintiffs failed to prove a gratuitous license, while defendants’ 1998 purchase and 1999 lease were upheld. Applying equity and the presumption of regular official acts, the Court rejected fraud, dismissed the Plaintiffs’ claim, entered judgment for the Defendants on their counterclaim, and awarded costs against the Plaintiffs.
The Plaintiffs are joint Administrators of the estate of their late grandfather, Charles Torgbui Tetteh.
Plaintiffs claim that their late grandfather was the owner of the land in dispute which is located in Laterbiokorshie, Accra and described as being “bounded on the North by vendor’s property measuring 135 feet more and less, on the South by J. C Netey and F. C Ashong’s properties measuring 200 feet more or less, on the North by Inner Ring Road measuring 70 feet more or less and containing an approximate area of 0. 265 of an acre. ”According to the Plaintiffs, by a deed of conveyance executed on the 16th July, 1951 between Emma Mills and Helena Mills both from the Ablorh Mills Family of Accra, their deceased grandfather acquired the land in dispute.
He subsequently registered his document covering the land in dispute at the Gold Coast Registry and same was indexed as Deed Registry Number 1092/1951. He also bought one thousand (1, 000) pieces of five inch blocks in August 1960 and by 1970 had placed them around the boundaries of the land in dispute.
Plaintiff’s case is that sometime in September 1970, the 1st Defendant encroached on a section of their grandfather’s land.
As a result, their grandfather caused his solicitor to send an eviction notice dated 18th November, 1970 to the 1st Defendant.
Plaintiffs claim that in response to the notice, the 1st Defendant approached their grandfather in the company of one S. A. Amuzu, who was a block maker, to plead with him to allow him to carry on his welding business on a section of the land in dispute.
Plaintiffs’ grandfather allegedly acceded to this request and since then, the 1st Defendant has constructed his welding shop on a part of the land in dispute.
The Plaintiffs also claim that the 2nd Defendant has encroached on the land by establishing an office complex on a section of the land in dispute.
The Plaintiffs further claim that the 3rd Defendant has fraudulently registered a conveyance in favour of the 1st Defendant dated 10th April, 1998. This registration was done in spite of the fact that the title of their grandfather’s grantors in the land in dispute had been confirmed by a judgment of the Court dated May 17, 1971 which had been plotted in the records of the 3rd Defendant.
The Plaintiffs’ case is that subsequent to the death of their grandfather, Letters of Administration of his estate was granted on the 19th of May, 1992 to Plaintiffs’ father, Godwin Yao Tetteh and his brothers Christian D