SOLACE ADOGLA & 1 ORS VS NANA ESSEL II & 4 ORS
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- JUSTICE AFIA SERWAA ASARE-BOTWE (MRS.)
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Contract Law
- Civil Procedure
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves a dispute over a 375.845-acre parcel of land at Buduburam. The Plaintiffs, as Executors of the Estate of the late Gabriel Awuku Adoglah, sued for declaration of title, recovery of possession, and other reliefs. The land was originally leased to Adoglah in 1977 for 99 years. The Defendants had allegedly encroached on the land and constructed buildings without authority. The court held that the Plaintiffs are the beneficial owners of the leasehold in the property and granted all the reliefs sought, including declaration of title, recovery of possession, cancellation of inconsistent documents, perpetual injunction against the Defendants, and damages for trespass. The court emphasized several legal principles, including the binding nature of written agreements, the necessity of proper notice for re-entry of leased land, and the invalidity of subsequent grants of the same land. The case highlights the importance of proper documentation and registration in property disputes.
FACTS
The facts that have given rise to this case are that on the 3rd of February, 2011, the Plaintiffs, suing in their capacities as Executors of the Estate of
the late Gabriel Awuku Adoglah (Deceased), issued a writ in this Court claiming the following reliefs;A declaration that the Plaintiffs are entitled to the Leasehold estate and absolutely to ALL THAT PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND comprising 152.07 Hectares or 375.845 Acres situate lying and being at Buduburam in the Gomoa- Assin Traditional Area in the Winneba District in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana bounded on the North by Lessor’s Land measuring 1,183 feet more or less; on the South by Lessor’s Land measuring 2,332 feet more or less; on the East by the Nguabadzi Stream and the Lessor’s Land measuring 8,205 feet more or less; on the West by Lessor’s Land measuring 6,788 feet more or less and covering an approximate area of 152.07 Hectares or 375.845 Acres more or less.
a. Recovery of possession.
b. An order that any and/or all the Defendant(s) cancel/delete any Conveyance, Deed of Assignment, Lease Agreement or any other document(s) on the Land Register or otherwise inconsistent with the Plaintiff’s Registered Document of Title.
c. An Order of Perpetual Injunction to retrain the Defendants whether by themselves , their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from or doing the following acts or any of them, that is to say, trespassing on the said piece or parcel of land by otherwise bypassing and re-passing over, building on it or carrying out thereon any building operations or otherwise.
d. An order for the breaking down of any /all of the structures on the land.
e. Damages for Trespass.
f. Any further or other reliefs.
This case has seen several amendments and changes to the parties. Eventually, the amended writ of summons filed on the 8th of April, 2015 was the one that was the final one on which this case is founded.
THE PLAINTIFFS’ CASE
The case of the Plaintiffs in sum is that they are the administrators of the estate of the late Gabriel Awuku Adoglah. The case of the Plaintiffs simply put is that the late Gabriel Awuku Adoglah acquired the land in dispute, situate at Bububuram-Awutu, with an approximate area of 375/845 acres described in great detail, in the schedule to a lease dated the 11th of August 1977 made between Nana Abor Ewusi the XIX, Fettehene of Gomoa Assin Traditional Area in the Central Region with the requisite consents for a period of Ninety-Nine (99) year