TWIFO OIL PLANTATION PROJECT LIMITED v. AYISI AND OTHERS

This is an appeal from the judgment of Wuaku J. sitting at the High Court, Cape Coast, dated 30 April 1982, by which he found that, as against the defendant-appellants (hereinafter referred to as the defendants), the plaintiff-respondents (hereinafter referred to as the plaintiffs) were entitled to a declaration of possessory title, an order of quia timet and perpetual injunction.

The plaintiffs sued for themselves and on behalf of two farmers' syndicates, the Angua Ansah and Thomas Asare Yeboah groups. In 1928, the plaintiffs purchased from the Merkwa stool a large tract of land on which they have settled ever since. The Merkwa stool land and what the plaintiffs purchased are parts of a larger tract of land known as the Hemang lands, in the Central Region of Ghana.

Although by the Hemang Lands Acquisition Decree, 1975 (NRCD 332), the lands of the plaintiffs, together with other lands were acquired by the Republic of Ghana in 1973, the plaintiffs appeared to have obliviously remained on their lands in their farming pursuits, until the advent of the defendants.

As their name implies, the defendants are engaged in commercial oil palm plantation projects and enjoy both national and international credentials. In their quest for land, the defendants were sponsored by the Central Regional Development Corporation (CERDEC), which as lessees of the Republic of a portion of the Hemang lands, were, in turn, to grant the defendants a sub-lease of part of their area. The plantation project envisaged was a vast area, and on commencing work on lands they believed were part of their leasehold, the defendants came into a clash with the plaintiffs at the Angua Ansah area.

The plaintiffs were obdurate in their stand, and opposed the cutting of forest tracks for the purpose of field demarcations by the defendants. They maintained the obstinate but false view that their lands were still their own by purchase, and were unaffected by any government acquisition, or leasehold grants to the benefit of any quasi-government organisation or their nominees. The resulting unrest and threatened public disorders in the area, not only necessitated the [p.886] drafting of a contingent of police to the area, but also led to a series of meetings by the regional minister, or his agents, with the plaintiffs and the inhabitants of the Hemang area generally, both at Cape Coast and in the field at Angua Ansah and at Twifo-Praso. These were all attempts to promote understanding and to enable