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December 21, 1981
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF CRABBE J.S.C.
The plaintiff-applicant hereinafter referred to as the applicant sued the defendant-respondents hereinafter referred to as the respondents at the Kwahu Traditional Council for a declaration that she, the applicant, was the queenmother of Mpraeso and that the purported election of Abena Kumiwaa, known also as Abena Kwabena or as Comfort Aboagye, as queenmother of Mpraeso on 5 April 1976, was contrary to custom and thus not valid. She also asked [p.583] for an injunction to restrain Abena Kumiwaa in particular and others, being the defendants in that suit, "from declaring and presenting herself anywhere and in whatever circumstances as the queenmother of Mpraeso or acting in that behalf..."
According to the plaintiff-applicant,
". . . judgment was given against [her] predecessor who thereupon appealed to the judicial committee of the Eastern Region House of Chiefs . . . [which] set aside the decision of the Kwahu Traditional Council and ordered a retrial of the suit on its merits . . . [T]he defendant-respondents appealed against [that] ruling to the National House of Chiefs . . . [which] in a judgment delivered on 8 April 1981 reversed the decision of the Eastern Region House of Chiefs and affirmed the decision of the Kwahu Traditional Council . . ."
In January 1981, however, the original plaintiff had died. She was buried on 9 April 1981 some three or four months after her death. The applicant was appointed her successor on 16 April 1981. She made an application for substitution on 1 May 1981. It was not processed until 11 May 1981. That application was granted on 5 June 1981. She was pregnant "and not in very good health and . . . was not at Mpraeso." She could not swear to the required affidavit until 30 April 1981. She admits that she is, "out of time not only to apply for leave to appeal, but also to appeal against the judgment of the chieftaincy tribunal of the National House of Chiefs." Hence the application before this court seeking:
"(a) a waiver by the court of non-compliance with rules 7 (1) and 8 (1) of the Supreme Court Rules, 1970 (C.I. 13);
(b) leave to appeal against the judgment of the chieftaincy tribunal of the National House of Chiefs; and
(c) an extension of time within which to appeal."
Counsel for the respondents raised a two-pronged preliminary objection to the application. The first, that, this court had no jurisdiction to waive compliance with rules 7 and 8 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1
AI Generated Summary
Crabbe J.S.C. of the Supreme Court considered an application by the successor to a deceased claimant in the Mpraeso queenmother dispute. The original suit in the Kwahu Traditional Council sought to invalidate the 5 April 1976 election of Abena Kumiwaa and to restrain her from acting as queenmother. After an adverse decision was set aside by the Eastern Region House of Chiefs and retrial ordered, the National House of Chiefs reversed on 8 April 1981 and affirmed the traditional council. The original plaintiff died in January 1981 and was buried on 9 April 1981; the applicant was appointed on 16 April 1981 and substituted on 5 June 1981. Acknowledging she was out of time, she asked the Supreme Court to waive non-compliance with rules 7(1) and 8(1) of C.I. 13, grant leave to appeal, and extend time, citing pregnancy, ill-health, and delayed burial. The respondents objected that the Court lacked jurisdiction under rule 66 and Act 370. Interpreting "action" in appellate context, the Court held no civil cause or matter was before it because no notice of appeal had been filed below, rule 7(1) requires first applying below and only upon refusal may the Supreme Court be engaged, and the applicant’s delay was wilful and not in the interests of justice, dismissing the application with costs.