SAMUEL MOETEH ADDO v. AGBENU

This High Court land case from Accra concerns competing claims over property at West Korle Gonnor brought by the administrator of the estate of the late Christopher Addo against an occupant who asserted purchase from the Sempe Mantse, Nii Tetteh Kpeshie II. The plaintiff sought declaration of title, recovery of possession, injunction, and damages, invoking a 1959 gift and registration in 1977. The defendant pleaded purchase in 1958 with stool consent, long, continuous occupation exceeding thirty years, and defenses of laches, acquiescence, and statutory limitation. A composite plan prepared by the Survey and Mapping Division of the Lands Commission showed the site where the defendant built did not belong to the plaintiff’s father; counsel declined to cross‑examine the surveyor. Citing Summey v Yohuno and Twifo Oil, the court treated possession as decisive where title evidence was unclear, acknowledged adverse possession under GHIOC v Hanna Assi, but refused affirmative relief absent a counterclaim. The plaintiff’s suit was dismissed and GH¢600 costs awarded.