VERONICA COMMODORE MENSAH vs MICHAEL KOJO NARTEY
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP K. A. GYIMAH JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
- Civil Procedure
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The court addressed a dispute over a jointly owned property following the plaintiff’s exclusion by the defendant post-divorce. The court upheld the principle of unity of possession in tenancy in common, concluded the plaintiff has an equal right to the property, and ordered its valuation and possible sale with proceeds equally divided.
Introduction The parties in this suit were a married couple but their marriage unfortunately fell on the rocks.
The plaintiff left the matrimonial home after the marriage was dissolved but the defendant remarried and he is currently living in the said matrimonial home with his new wife.
The said matrimonial home is described as Parcel number 90 Block 1 Section 34 situated at Lartebiokorshie, which is the subject matter of this present suit.
Plaintiff’s case It is the plaintiff’s case that during the marriage, the defendant’s brother bought the house in dispute for them as a gift which they hold together in equal shares with the documents duly registered in their joint names.
The plaintiff avers that they pulled down part of the house and reconstructed a new house by their joint efforts.
The plaintiff asserts that when she moved out of the property after the dissolution of their marriage, the defendant has appropriated the building to himself and has denied her access to the building.
The plaintiff asserts that she has had to secure alternate accommodation at a cost. She has also suffered serious hardship as a result of the defendant’s continuous refusal to give her access to the jointly owned property.
She is therefore praying the court to make an order granting her a share of the property so that she can move on with her life.
She therefore claimed the following reliefs in her writ of summons: i. Recovery of possession of all that piece or parcel of land in extent of 0. 87 hectare (0. 215 of an acre) more or less being Parcel number 90 Block 1 Section 34 situated at Lartebiokorshie in the Greater Accra Region of the Republic of Ghana which properly is numbered as House Number 417/4A, 6th Sakumono Link, Latrtebiokorshie.
An order for the appointment of an independent valuer to conduct a valuation on the said property described in (i) above.
An order for the sale of the said property and the proceeds of the sale shared equally between the parties as joint owners.
General damages.
v. Costs (including lawyer’s fees). Withdrawal of defendant’s defence and counterclaim The defendant duly entered appearance and filed a nineteen paragraph statement of defence and counterclaim.
However, by a notice filed on 14th June 2019, the defendant informed the court of the withdrawal of his defence and for judgment to be based on the plaintiff’s reliefs and testimony before the court.
It must be stated here that counsel for the defendant vigorously cross-examin