NIK THEOPHILUS AMARTEIFIO VS NII ASHIEDIN
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE S. H. OCRAN
Areas of Law
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Plaintiff, claiming title over a disputed land through a registered 1978 lease, sued the Defendant for trespass and property damage. The Defendant contested the Plaintiff’s claim, alleging invalidity due to the incapacity of the family head who purportedly signed the deed and citing his family’s long-standing occupation of the land. Upon reviewing the evidence, the court confirmed the validity of the Plaintiff's title deed and rejected the Defendant's claim and the subsequent deed from 2003 due to lack of proof and procedural flaws. The court ruled in the Plaintiff's favor, granting him title, damages, and an injunction against the Defendant.
The Plaintiff who described himself as a businessman resident in Accra, issued outthis writ against the defendant on 29th April 2014 and claimed the following reliefs.
a) A declaration of Title b) An order of injunction restraining the defendant, his assigns, agents or any other person acting for or through him, or persons taking instructions from the defendant.
c) Damages for trespass d) General damages for the destruction of property.
e) Cost In the statement of claim that accompanied the writ of summons, the plaintifftraced his root of title to the land that he claims from the Nikoitsewe of Klana, Labadi, which family acted through E. B. Ablade Kotey as the lawfulrepresentative of the family, with the consent and concurrence of the principalmemebers of the Nikoitsewe.
He was issued with a lease, which lease wasregistered as Number 3740/1978. He then built a temporary wooden structureon the land and put in occupation of the wooden structure, a caretaker, who alsoplanted food crops on the land.
The Plaintiffs pleading stated further thatsometime in 2013, the defendant trespassed onto his land.
As a result he causedhis lawyers to write to the defendant to desist from his conduct as the defendanthad failed to yield to persistent warnings to move from the land.
The Plaintiffpleaded further that he recently put up a frontage wall on the land, but thedefendant and his agents, broke down the wall and threatened his workers todesist from any further work.
The land that the Plaintiff claims was describedin the statement of claim.
The defendant entered appearance through counsel but failed to file defence tothe action until an application for Judgment in default of defence was filed on4th July 2014. In the defendants defence it was admitted that E. B Ablade Kotey was, sometime ago, the head and lawful representative of the Nikoitsewe of La KlanaQuarter, but denied that the land in dispute was ever purchased by the plaintifffrom E. B Ablade Kotey who according to the defendant had suffered a strokeand was unable to execute land documents made by the family.
As a resultSamuel kotei Ashie became the acting head of family, and he executed alldocuments in respect of grants made by the family.
The defendant also pleadedthat the documents purported to have been executed by E. B Ablade Kotey inJuly 1978 was fraudulently procured.
The Particulars of the fraud was given as follows: i) That having been rendered bed ridden as a result of stroke, E. B Ablade Kotey