OFEI KWAKU MANTE v. MIKE SIMILAO & OTHERS
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- MARFUL-SAU, J.A. (PRESIDING)
- ACQUAYE, J.A.
- TORKORNOO(MRS), J.A
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2015
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The plaintiff, representing the Nii Kofi Appenteng family, sought a declaration of title to 416.88 acres of land, contending ancestral ownership since 1634. The defendants, representing the Odai Ntow Family, claimed long-standing possession and prior judgments validating their ownership. The trial court ruled in favor of the defendants, applying estoppel per rem judicatem based on previous judgments, notably from 2003 and 1980. The plaintiff appealed, challenging the trial court's application of estoppel and the judgment's scope. The appellate court upheld the trial court's decision, emphasizing the importance of final judgments and the applicable legal principles, ultimately dismissing the appeal.
ACQUAYE, J. A.
The plaintiff, as head of Nii Kofi Appenteng family claimed a declaration of title to 416.88 acres of land situate between Ofankor and Kwabenya villages in Accra. He claimed the land was given to his ancestors by the elders of Pokuase in 1634 which they named Ambuanda and they have settled thereon since. It is the plaintiff’s case that his family made a statutory declaration of the said land on 17th September 1990 which was registered as No.969/1993 and that they have granted parts of the land to a number of people for farming and building. According to the plaintiff the defendants have recently entered the land and would not vacate hence the writ of summons.
The 1st defendant denied the claims of the plaintiff and said that he had for a long time been in possession of the land as a grantee of the Odai Ntow Family and that his grantors made a statutory declaration which they registered as No. 2551/77. The 1st defendant stated that his grantors were never invited to attend the demarcation of the boundary between the two families and that he built a two bedroom house on the land and another 3 bedroom house up to lintel level in 1988. The 1st defendant testified that he obtained judgment in the Circuit Court in Suit No. 388/94 entitled Mike Similao vrs Paulina Darko, the defendant being a grantee of the instant plaintiff’s family in whose favour the plaintiff testified. According to the 1st defendant the plaintiffs Kofi Appenteng Family first sold the land to him but he could not register it at the Lands Commission so he went and acquired the same land from the Odai Ntow Family. When the Co-defendant was joined to the suit he stated in his defence that his Odai Ntow Family have for a long time been the owner in possession of the Abuanda lands and they have successfully litigated over the land twice in 1904 and 1980.
After a surveyor appointed by the Court to draw a composite plan of the land claimed by the parties had tendered those plans and testified, the court set down for preliminary hearing the issue of estoppel per rem judicatem raised by the defendants. After hearing the parties the trial judge held that the judgment in the case CC 388/95 entitled Mike Similao vrs Paulina Darko effectively determined the issues raised in the pleadings in favour of the 1st defendant and the plaintiff was thus estopped per rem judicatem from relitigating the same issues. The trial judge held that the 1st defendant being the judgment creditor in the Circ