GH - SOFFISH VENTURES LIMITED VS THE LA STOOL

The Plaintiff, Soffish Ventures Limited is a limited liability company duly registered in the Republic of Ghana with Richard Rivoire as its director and shareholder.

He is a French citizen and appears from the evidence to have been resident in Ghana since 1996. He initially came to Ghana for the purpose of exporting fish from Ghana, but when later he set eyes on a piece of land at the Labadi beach to the west of and near La Palm Beach Hotel in the Greater Accra Region, he decided to have the Plaintiff company acquire the land and develop it for the purpose of hotel and restaurant business.

It was in the pursuit of this new business venture that he came into contact with the La Mantse, that is the Paramount Chief of the La people, Nii Osa Kpobi alias Nii Kpobi Tettey.

The La Mantse is the traditional authority that is vested with the capacity to deal in La Stool lands including the land in dispute.

As indicated above, for the purpose of acquiring the land for the business, Richard Rivoire approached the La Mantse who expressed the desire to grant the land to the Plaintiff company.

However, upon inquiry, it became apparent that the land was vested in the State (Government) as it had been earmarked by the Gold Coast government in 1930 as a tipping station at the Labadi beach.

Following consultations with the La Mantse and the La Stool Lands Committee including their chairperson, Richard Rivoire set about ensuring that the land was returned to the La Stool in the belief that the land would eventually be granted to the Plaintiff company.

Pages 1, 2 & 3 of the Written Address of learned Counsel for the Plaintiff elaborately recount the efforts including the time, energy and expenses that Richard Rivoire incurred in getting the relevant authorities to return the land to the La Stool.

These authorities include the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A. M. A. ), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Minister for Private Sector Development, the Office of Bottlenecks, the Department of Urban Roads and the Lands Commission (Greater Accra Region) and these efforts spanned a period of about 6 years.

In the course of these 6 years, the Plaintiff’s representative was encouraged by, among others, the following conduct of the La Stool’s agents to do everything within his means and power to ensure the return of the land to the La Stool: The La Stool lawyer, the late Peter Ala Adjetey, Esq. wrote to Richard Rivoire the Note of Intent to Grant the Land to the Plaintiff co

The Plaintiff, Soffish Ventures Limited is a limited liability company duly registered in the Republic of Ghana with Richard Rivoire as its director and shareholder.

It was in the pursuit of this new business venture that he came into contact with the La Mantse, that is the Paramount Chief of the La people, Nii Osa Kpobi alias Nii Kpobi Tettey.

The La Mantse is the traditional authority that is vested with the capacity to deal in La Stool lands including the land in dispute.

As indicated above, for the purpose of acquiring the land for the business, Richard Rivoire approached the La Mantse who expressed the desire to grant the land to the Plaintiff company.

However, upon inquiry, it became apparent that the land was vested in the State (Government) as it had been earmarked by the Gold Coast government in 1930 as a tipping station at the Labadi beach.

SOFFISH VENTURES LIMITED VS THE LA STOOL

Areas of Law

JUDGMENT