2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Court of Appeal, per Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu, considered an appeal from the High Court’s dismissal of an application for mandamus brought by a landowner in Manhean near Ablekuma against the Ga West Municipal Assembly. The Applicant sought to compel the Assembly to demolish structures allegedly erected by Interested Party Ibrahim Armah that blocked the only access to his two-bedroom house and filled an adjacent gutter. Although the High Court had dismissed the application as out of time, the Court of Appeal held the six-month limit for mandamus runs from the expiry of a mandatory 30-day demand served on the public body, making the application timely. However, the court dismissed the application on the merits, holding mandamus is an extraordinary public law remedy unavailable where adequate private law remedies exist, the Assembly lacked a statutory duty to demolish, and the Applicant had not shown a specific legal right. Two other Justices concurred.
ACKAH-YENSU, JA
INTRODUCTION
This appeal emanates from the Ruling of the High Court (Criminal Division), Accra dated 14th July 2021, wherein the Applicant/Appellant’s application for Mandamus was dismissed.
In the High Court, the Applicant filed a Motion praying for an order in the nature of Mandamus to issue, directed at the Respondent/Respondent to demolish alleged illegally erected structures by the Interested Party. For ease of reference we shall refer to the parties by their designations at the trial court.
BACKGROUND FACTS
In the accompanying affidavit, the Applicant sought the following relief against the Respondent:
“An Order of Mandamus compelling the Respondent to demolish an ILLEGALLY ERECTED STRUCTURES BY THE INTERESTED PARTY OF UNNUMBERED HOUSE MANHEAN TOWNSHIP, ACCRA WHICH IS SERVING AS A BLOCKAGE TO THE ACCESS ROAD TO THE APPLICANT’S PROPERTY”
The ground upon which the relief was sought was:
“Failure to perform an obligatory statutory duty of maintaining a public road and allowing access to same within the municipality”.
The Applicant’s case is that he acquired a parcel of land situate and lying at Manhean near Ablekuma within the jurisdiction of the Ga West Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra Region. The Applicant registered the land with the Lands Commission and obtained a Land Title Certificate. The Applicant built a two (2) bedroom house on the land and placed his aged sisters in the house. The said land has a road reservation which was the only access into the Applicant’s house. The land also has a gutter by the side which channels rain water from the top into a near-by river anytime it rains.
Sometime in 2019, the Interested Party caused a third party to develop the entire frontage of the Applicant’s land and by so doing denied the Applicant access to his land. The only means of accessing the Applicant’s house was to scale a dwarf wall into a neighbour’s land. The Interested Party also filled the only gutter which channels the rain water with sand and permitted a third party to develop the reclaimed land. Upon enquiry as to why the Interested Party was developing the front of the Applicant’s land, he claimed ownership of the said land and offered to sell a portion to the Applicant to enable him gain access unto his land. This claim compelled the Applicant to cause his Lawyer to writ to the Ga West Municipal Assembly on 17th June 2019.
The Assembly responded on 27th May 2020 and in their letter, they indicated that the en