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Parties: Plaintiff ‘s attorney
present. Defendant absent.
Counsel: G. K. Ntony for
plaintiff present. Lawyer for
defendant absent.
Plaintiff open case.
My name is Daniel Lamptey. I
live at Mamprobi in Accra. I
know Charles Ashong (the
plaintiff) in this case. He has
given me power of attorney. I am
therefore the attorney of the
plaintiff. The power of attorney
has been presented for stamping
hence I cannot tender it today.
Sometime in 1999 the plaintiff
had a friend called Stephen who
asked him to buy land for him.
So plaintiff gave money to
Stephen and Stephen bought the
land for him. Plaintiff works at
Cape-Coast and Stephen is in
Accra. The land Stephen bought
for plaintiff is at Afariwa
Estate in Oyarifa. Stephen
bought the land from one Shasha
Yemoh, an agent of the elders of
Oyarifa, the owners of the land
. I do not know the name of the
family of which Shasha Yemoh
acted as an agent. After paying
for the land, he was issued with
a document and he went to the
Lands Department to register it.
After the registration,
plaintiff started developing the
land. He made the footings up to
the foundation level and left it
for some time. Since he was
working in Cape-Coast he could
not come to Accra every day to
supervise the work. So he asked
Stephen to supervise the work
for him. Stephen did it up to
the slab level and since money
was not forthcoming he had to
stop for sometime. Upon purchase
of the land, plaintiff was
issued with a site plan that
shows the dimension of the land
purchased. And Stephen erected
corner pillars on the land. When
the land was first entered there
was no evidence of prior
occupation. Few years later
plaintiff came to Accra and went
to the site to check what he had
done with the intention of
continuation. When he went there
he saw some people on the site
digging through his foundation.
He asked them to stop and asked
them who gave them the authority
to work on the land. They
actually did not mind him.
Plaintiff reported the matter to
Adenta police. Police came to
the site and asked them to stop
work and they stopped. They
asked them to produce their
document. A week or two later
they brought their document to
the police. We also submitted
our document. I have with me a
copy of the document we showed
to the police. The document is
tendered into evidence and same
is marked as Exhibit ‘A’.
Exhibit ‘A’ was the indenture
issued to me when we bought the
land. It was the defendant who
had entered the land and digging
the trench. The police commander
asked the police in charge to
conduct a search at the Lands
Department and the search was
conducted. Defendant did not
disclose where he got the land
from. At the police we got to
know that defendant also bought
the land from the same Shasha
Yemoh. Personally we have not
had any meeting with Shasha
Yemoh, who claimed that
plaintiff has never bought any
land from him claiming that he
does not know plaintiff. Shasha
Yemoh is one of the executors of
Exhibit ‘A’. Defendant has now
developed the land to
seal/window level. Defendant has
been stopped and so he has not
done anything again. I am
therefore claiming the reliefs
endorsed on the writ of summons.
End of evidence in chief.
End of plaintiff’s case.
By Court:
Judgment:
This case was adjourned to today
14th October 2011 for
hearing at the instance of
plaintiff. Accordingly hearing
notice was served on defendant
through defendant’s lawyer.
Nevertheless, both defendant and
his lawyer are absent without
any reason. In the circumstance
the court proceeded to hear the
case of plaintiff, the absence
of defendant notwithstanding. It
is observed that defendant has a
counterclaim on record and so in
accordance with Order 36 Rule 1
(2) (a) of C. 1. 47, the said
counterclaim is dismissed.
Plaintiff’s attorney has adduced
evidence to show that plaintiff
purchased the land in dispute in
1999. He tendered into evidence
Exhibit ‘A’, an Indenture dated
16th August 1999
executed between Nii Mensah
Okpoti Kodia and Nii Larsey
Kodia, joint heads and legal
representatives of Kodia family
of Fafraha/Oyarifa on one hand
and plaintiff on the other hand.
Plaintiff’s attorney had further
given evidence as to going into
possession and carrying out some
development activity on the land
before defendant violated
plaintiff’s possessory rights.
In the absence of any challenge
to the evidence adduced on the
record by plaintiff’s attorney
coupled with what I make out of
Exhibit ‘A’, I am left with no
option but to declare ownership
of the land in favor of
plaintiff. Accordingly judgment
is entered in favour of
plaintiff. He is declared the
owner of all that piece of land
situate at Fafraha/Oyarifa and
covering an area of o.26 acres
and measuring 130 feet at the
North East. 80 feet at South 45
feet on the South West and 80
feet at the west for general
damages I award plaintiff the
sum of GH¢10.000. I order
recovery of possession of the
said land in favour of plaintiff
and defendant by herself, his
agents, servants, workmen,
privies are hereby restrained
from interfering with the land
in dispute. Plaintiff is awarded
costs of GH¢200.00.
(SGD) ANTHONY OPPONG
JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
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