TUALA TUNDE TOWOLCEWI (DECEASED) VS NII OKULEY ANNAN & ANOR
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE ANTHONY OPPONG
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2018
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
In this case, the plaintiff sued the defendants over a land ownership dispute in Adjirigano, Greater Accra Region, Ghana. The plaintiff asserted that he acquired the land in 1986 and held possession until 2008. The defendants counterclaimed, asserting ownership based on different grounds, including the plaintiff's alleged Nigerian nationality. The court found the 1st defendant's title to the land to be superior and ordered the cancellation of the plaintiff's land certificate. However, the court did not accept the argument that the plaintiff's non-Ghanaian status invalidated his claim without proper proof.
In this suit, the plaintiff sued the defendants, and by way of cross-action, each defendant in turn sued the plaintiff.
By the amended writ of summons, the plaintiff sought the reliefs stated hereunder:
a) Declaration of title to all that piece or parcel of land lying and situate at Adjirigano, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, measuring a total area of 0.356 acres or 0.144 hectares more or less and more particularly delineated in the Land Title Registry Map No. 0/115/88 attached to Substituted Land Certificate No. GA 11623 (volume 53 Folio 497) dated the 17th day of December, 2004, issued to the plaintiff and as described supra;
b) Recovery of possession of the said parcel of land from the defendants, their agents, and assigns;
c) Declaration that the defendants’ act of entering onto the land and acting in the way and manner stated in the Statement of Claim constitutes trespass on the plaintiff’s said land;
d) Damages for trespass;
e) Perpetual injunction against the defendants, their agents, privies, workers, contractors, assigns, or whomever claiming through or deriving title from the defendants from entering, remaining on, or interfering in any way whatsoever with the land that is the subject matter of the suit;
f) Costs;
g) Any other order(s) as to this Honourable Court may seem just and proper.
The reliefs sought by the 1st Defendant were:
a) A declaration that the 1st defendant is the bona fide owner of ALL that piece or parcel of land situate, lying, and being at Otinshie Residential area, East Legon, Accra, bounded on the north by a proposed road measuring 153.8 feet more or less, on the east by a road measuring 135.7 feet more or less, on the south by a proposed road measuring 135.8 feet more or less, and on the west by lessor’s land measuring 135.8 feet more or less, covering an approximate area of 0.48 acres more or less;
b) A declaration that the plaintiff, being a non-Ghanaian, cannot hold a 99-year lease with a 45-year renewal interest in any land in Ghana and therefore any document which seeks to give the plaintiff such an interest is a nullity;
c) An order cancelling the plaintiff’s land certificate;
d) A declaration that the plaintiff’s grantors, not members of the Osae family of Otinshie, lack the capacity to grant Otinshie village lands;
e) Costs.
The 2nd Defendant, as indicated, also sued the plaintiff in his counterclaim as follows:
a) A declaration that the purported acquisition of the said land for 99 years by th