ROSE AMELE SAKA v. AKUTEY AZU & ORS

HENRY KWOFIE J.A:

The present appeal has been launched by the Plaintiff/Appellant against the judgment of the High Court Accra delivered on 17th May 2016. The trial High Court in that judgment dismissed the Plaintiff’s claims and entered judgment in favour of the Defendants/Respondents on their counter-claim. The notice of appeal dated 21st June, 2016 is at pages 236-237 of the record. The grounds of appeal set out in the Notice of Appeal were:

a) The appeal (sic) is against the weight of evidence led.

b) That the trial Court took a simplistic view of the evidence in respect of the acquisition of the property and thus erred

c) The Court erred when it ruled that the Plaintiff/Appellant’s deceased father acquiesced in his right when he was dead at the time of the acts complained of.

d) The trial Judge erred when he failed to analyse the Will that Defendants/Respondents tendered to see whether the Testator had the capacity to make those Wills.

e) The trial Court erred when it granted the counterclaim of the Defendants/Respondents when they had no capacity to make those counterclaims

The judgment appealed against is at pages 218 to 235 of the Record and the reliefs sought from the Court of Appeal were the reversal of the judgment of the High Court and entry of judgment for the Plaintiffs/Appellant.

Before dealing with the arguments advanced in support and against the appeal, I will give a background of the case.

By her Writ of Summons filed on 23rd October 2007, the Plaintiff/Appellant in her capacity as the personal representative and beneficiary of the estate of the late Jonathan Ruben Adokwei Saka, claimed against the Defendants/Appellants the following reliefs:

i. A declaration of title in favour of Plaintiff’s late father’s estate for ALL THAT piece and parcel of land situate at Anorhor in Christianburg in Accra and bounded on the north by properties partly for the late Tawiah Hammond and partly of Ajibu measuring one hundred (100) feet more or less and on the south by the Lokko Road extension measuring one hundred feet more or less and on the east by the property of the late Kodjoetse Obodai measuring one hundred and ten (110) feet more or less and on the west by the property of the late Agnes Teteley and measuring one hundred and ten(110) feet more or less covering an approximate area of 0.253 which property has been numbered as H/No. F468/2 Osu.

ii. An order for recovery of possession of the land the subject matter of this suit from the Defe