REV. ISAAC HAMMOND & ANOR VS HON. DR. NANA ATO ARTHUR & ANOR
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE BERNARD BENTIL - HIGH COURT JUDGE.
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Evidence Law
- Civil Procedure
- Tort Law
2024
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Executors/Trustees of the estate of Isaac Kweku Begyina sued asserting title and seeking possession and injunction over land near UCC, Cape Coast, alleging trespass by the Defendants. The 1st Defendant, an ex-MP and Head of the Local Government Service, and the 2nd Defendant denied trespass, asserting a 2007 acquisition registered at the Lands Commission and a building permit under the statutory layout, and pointing to a 20-foot lane between plots. After pleadings and a counterclaim, the High Court set a single issue for trial: ownership of the disputed land. Relying on a composite plan prepared by the Regional Surveyor, the court found that Plaintiffsf site plan fell at a different location, while Defendantsf site plan matched the ground; the disputed area lay outside land conveyed to Plaintiffs and development by Defendants was within their land. Unstamped indentures tendered by both sides were rejected under section 32(6) of the Stamp Duty Act. Judgment entered for Defendants, with a perpetual injunction and costs of GH50,000.
The Plaintiffs have instituted this action in their capacity as Executors/Trustees of the Estate of the late Isaac Kweku Begyina.
The Plaintiffs’ case is that the Deceased, during his lifetime, own the all that land described in paragraph 2 of the Plaintiffs’ Statement of Claim.
The 1st Defendant is described as an ex-member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Airem Constituency and currently the Head of the Local Government Service.
The 2nd Defendant is also a citizen of Ghana who resides in Cape Coast. According to the Plaintiffs, the Defendants are trespassers on the land described in paragraph 2 and have graded a portion of the said land and are unlawfully developing and puꢀing up structures on the said land both day and night.
The Plaintiffs aver that the late Isaac Kweku Begyina purchased the land in dispute in 2005 from Ebusuapayin Kobina Aꢀah, Head of Anona Royal family of Kwaprow per an indenture dated 7th January, 2005. The Plaintiffs say that on 9th July, 2018 they obtained probate on the late Will and Testament of the Deceased in the High Court, Accra and visited the land with the view of gathering the assets of the Estate in order to administer the Estate of the Deceased.
The Plaintiffs further aver that in or around July 2019, the Defendants trespassed and encroached upon portions of the disputed land by weeding it and have now brought machine unto the land with the intention of grading it for development.
The Plaintiff reported the maꢀer to the police but the Defendants never stopped their trespassory acts despite the advice of the police.
The Defendants were further summoned to the palace of the chiefs (the Plaintiffs’grantors) but they refused to honour the invitation.
The Plaintiffs aver that the Defendants are determined to carry on with their trespassory acts and are using their high positions and political clout to bamboozle and intimidate the Plaintiffs and further to forcibly and unlawfully develop the land in dispute quickly during the day and at night to the detriment of the Plaintiffs.
On the basis of the above facts, the Plaintiffs claim against the Defendants jointly and severally as follows: a. Declaration of title to and ownership of ALL THAT PIECE OF LAND (60-71)situate at Kwaprow near U. C. C. , Cape Coast in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana (particularly described in paragraph 2 of the Statement of Claim). b. Recovery of possession of the said piece or parcel of the said land.
c. An order for the removal of any o