THE REPUBLIC v. TOGBE GBADAWU IV; EX-PARTE: TOGBE LUGU AWADALI IV
2022
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE DOREEN G. BOAKYE-AGYEI (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
2022
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Justice Doreen G. Boakye-Agyei of the High Court heard an application by Togbe Lugu Awadali IV seeking to commit Togbe Gbadawu IV for contempt after long-standing litigation over Anyigbe Clan lands and creeks near Adutor. The Applicant alleged the Respondent recently constructed a dyke with traps at the Avu Lagoon–Adutor Creek junction to monopolize fishing in defiance of a Supreme Court judgment restoring a High Court decision that recognized Anyigbe as allodial owners and Gbadawu as usufruct holders without exclusive rights over creeks. The Respondent denied the allegations. Applying the established Ghanaian contempt elements and the criminal standard of proof, the Court found the Applicant offered no cogent evidence—no photographs, videos, or witness affidavits—linking the Respondent to the alleged dyke or demonstrating willful disobedience. The application was dismissed, the Respondent discharged, and costs awarded.
JUDGMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Applicant on the 16th day of August, 2022 filed the instant application against the
Respondent pursuant to Order 50 of C. I 47 praying for an order to commit the Respondent
for Contempt of Court. The Applicant is praying that the Respondent be convicted to
punitive custodial sentence to serve as a deterrent to others who might contemplate
following his recalcitrant behavior. The Respondent on the 16th day of September, 2022
filed an affidavit in opposition to the instant application and denied the contentions or
allegations of the Applicant especially the contention or allegation that the Respondent
recently constructed a dyke with traps at the junction where fish from the Avu Lagoon swim
into the Adutor Creek and thus trapped all fishes that ought to have swum into the
ADUTOR Creek to replenish the stock of fish therein and by so doing, he sought to
exclusively enjoy the goodies of ADUTOR Creek to the exclusion of all other fishermen and
or users of the creek in defiance of the decision of the Supreme Court. The Respondent also
in his affidavit in opposition denied ever engaging in conduct that was contemptuously
contumacious which is an affront to the dignity and reputation of the Supreme Court which
had in its judgment Exhibit F cautioned the Family members over the wet and the dry creeks
on the disputed land. The Respondent having denied the Applicant's allegations, the
burden is cast on the Applicant to prove his allegation levelled against the Respondent
beyond reasonable doubt as per the law and authorities.
THE FACTS: The summary of history lesson of a myriad of cases between the parties from
civil and contempt spanning the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are that
the Applicant herein instituted an action against the Respondent at the High Court, Ho in
a suit NO. L.S No. 2/2001 entitled TOGBE LUGU AWADALI IV VRS TOGBE
GBADAWU IV in respect of the ownership and or allodial title of a land that according to
Respondent has long been in effective and uninterrupted possession and occupation of the
Respondent's Gbadawu family. The dispute was further provoked by the Respondent's
preparation and registration of a Statutory Declaration covering the land at the Lands
Commission, Ho. At the end of the trial in the aforementioned case, judgment was in the
opinion of this Court declared partly in favour of Applicant and also the Respondent.
The Applicant states that he is the Chief of Adutor