pg 117
Claim of Overlordship of lands
at Bepoase-Three Disputes-
Appeal from
Armitage Settlement in
1902-Stool of Abrakaso not a
party-Decision by Sir Francis
Fuller in
191.5
fixing boundaries-
Parties
(who are under Ejisu Stool) in
1930 accepted amicable
settlement: land held in
common by the Plaintiff and.
Defendant and as to proceed~ one
third for Ejusu, one third for
Plaintiff, one third for
Defendant---Ayinasu claim this
jurisdiction.
settlement binding on all
parties-Abrakaso claim.~
(i)
Fullerdecision governs and is
not inconsistent with Armitage
decision,
(ii)
Ejisu represented Abrakaso at
that decision-Armitage and
Fuller decisions validated by
Cap. 120 in 1929-ln present
dispute Native Court of Ejisu
based their judgment on the
Fuller decision and did not
consider settlement of
1930Asantehene's Court" A
" reversed this on basis of
1930 agreement---Chief
Commissioner's Court reversed
this as counter
to Fuller decision and restored
Ejisu Court judgment and
boundaries demarcated-Assured by
Chief Cornmissioner's and Eiisu
Courts that alleged arran,qement
of 1930 could not over-ride
Fuller's 'decision.
Held: This view incorrec1i, that
the boundaries of Bepoase land
between the parties shall be
thos9 declared by Chief
Commissioner's Court, and that
the finding of the Asantehene's
Court
"A"
to efficient that land is held
in common and proceeds divided
vide
1930
settlement is upheld.
There is no need to set out the
facts.
E.
O. Asafu-Adjaye (with him
H A H Benjamin) for
Appellant.
A. W. K. Thompson
(with hill\ E. A. Bannerman)
for Respondent.
The following joint judgment was
delivered:-
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA, PETRIDES,
C.J., GOLD COAST AND GRAHAM
PAUL, C.J., SIERRA LEONE.
The plaintiff-appellant is the
Stool Holder of Ayinasu
(variously spelt N yiasu,
Eyinasu, etc.) and the
defendantrespondent is the
Stool Holder of Abrakaso. The
parties are admittedly under the
Ejisu Stool.
pg118
The present proceedings
commenced in the Native Court of
Ejisu where the
plaintiff-appellant swore the
Great Oath on
defendant-respondent claiming "overlordship
of the lands at " Bepoase, and
having no boundary lines with
defendant, but with "Offinsuhene,
Agonahene, Ejurahene, and
Nkoranzahene."
Defendant-respondent swore to
the contrary and claimed that he
had boundary with the
plaintiff-appellant. The land is
hereinafter referred to as "
Bepoase land."
At the beginning of this century
the Agonas and Ayinasus disputed
as to their boundaries. The two
parties came before Captain
Armitage and settled their
dispute. The terms of
settlement were embodied in
Eixhibit "I" dated 28th June,
1902, which was signed by the
Kings of Aguna and Ejisu, the
Chiefs of Wimuasi, Kofiasi,
Nyiasu and the linguist of the
Stool of Ejisu in the presence
of Captain Armitage who signed
it for the Acting Chief
Commissioner, JAshanti. The
signatories to "I" agreed that
the boundaries between Agona and
Ayinasu were as stated therein.
This document is hereinafter
referred to as the Armitage
Decision.
Although Bepoase land fell
within the boundary recognised
as that of A.yinasu an'd in
fact, in part, at all events,
forms part of the boundary with
Agona the Stool of Abrakaso was
not a party to the dispute and
did not sign the Armitage
Decision.
In 1915 Kweku Krah (Abrakaso)
sued Kwamin Kuduo (Ayinasu) in
the Chief Commissioner's Court
of Ashanti claiming damages for
trespass on the land lying
between Ayinasu and Wimoasi
which Abrakaso alleged was
claimed by Ayinasu. The action
was tried by Mr (afterwards Sir)
Francis Fuller, Chief
Commissioner, Ashanti. His notes
of the proceedings are scanty.
On the 27th May, 1915, he gave a
Decision which reads:-
" The Bipoasi lands will remain
under Kweku Kra (Abrakaso) and "
the people thereon will pay
tribute to Kweku Kra but all
past tribute "paid to Kwamin
Kuduo (Ayinasu) need not be
returned to Kweku " Kra.".
After inspecting the land, Sir
Francis Fuller gave a further
decision on the 18th September,
1915, which reads:- " Land
inspected "'The boundary between
the parties on the road between
the " Kintampo main road and
Hipoasi shall be the Dabain
Stream until it " runs into the
Afram. " Costs given against
Kweku Krah £4."
The
plaintiff-appellant claims that
the Armitage Decision recognised
that Bepoase land forms part of
Ayinasu lands. In the Ejisu
Court he said he knew nothing
about the dispute that resulted
in the Fuller Decision or that
such a decision was ever given.
His case. was that disputes
arose between Ayinasu and
Abrakaso and these were settled
by the Ejisuhene. The third
dispute occurred about 1930 when
the late Boaten was on the
Stool.
Ejisuhene promised to make
amicable settlement between the
two as they were brothers. The
terms of this alleged settlement
were stated by .Akyeame-hene
Kobina Yeboah, Head Linguist of
Ejisu, in his evidence in chief
before the Native Court of Ejisu,
to be as follows: -
The
following day, peace was
restored between the plaintiff
and "defendant and it was
arrangpd that from that day,
whatever comes . from Bepoase
should be shared into three
parts, one-third for Ejisu
"Stool, one-third for plaintiff
and one-third' for defendant.
Both " parties agreed to such
arrangement, made by Nana Boaten
on the "land. Nana Boaten
stamped this with a bottle of
gin (Paintu) for "the respect
given him by the parties. He
paid the costs of the " Paintu
himself. A year after this
arrangement, the ex-Abrakasohene
"Kwakn Krah brought the sum of
£30 which was divided into three
i,
parts, which Ejisu Stool took
its portion.,The second year
also, he " brought £30 and that
was ,also shared between Ejisu
Stool, plaintiff "and defendant.
The third year, there arose a
dispute between "Anyinasuhene
and his people in which Boachie
abdicated from "Anyinasu Stool.
During the interregnum of
Anyinasu Stool, "Kwal!:u Krah
brought the sum of £30 which no
part was given to " Anyinasu
Stool, in absence of an
occupant. This is all I know".
The plaintiff-appellant's case
is that this settlement is
binding on all parties.
Defendant-respondent's case is
that the Fuller Deeision governs
and that it is not inconsistent
with the Armitage Decision. His
contention is, in effect, that
the Abrakasohene was away at the
time the dispute between .Agona
and .Ayinasu commenced and that
the Ejisuhene represented his
Stool when he signed the .Armitage
Decision. He appears to contend
that Ayinasu defended the
proceedings brought by Agona on
behalf of the Ayinasu and
Abrakaso ..
The Court of first instance, the
Native Court of Ejisu, based
their judgment for the defendant
on the Fuller Decision and
failed to consider the
plainti:fJ-appellant's
contention that the dispute
between the parties was finally
settled by Ejisuhene Boaten.
The Asantehene's Native Court" A
" reversed .this judgment on the
ground that it was satisfied
that the parties are brothers
and hold the disputed land in
common. That the Native Court of
Ejisu" should have upon the
evidence of the Akyeame-hene of
" Ejisu, which evidence has been
corroborated by the Ankobiahene
" of Ejisu, decided that the
disputed land is held in common
by " the parties and that the
proceeds should therefore be
divided "between them as was
arranged between them by the
late " Ejisuhene Kwaku Boaten."
It is significant that the
Ankobiahene stated in his
evidence before that Court that
the present representative of
the respondent (Kweku Krah) was
on the Abrakaso Stool at the
time the agreement relied on
was made and it was he who took
the one-third share due to his
Stool, and that Kweku Krah did
not give or call any evidence in
rebuttal of the very cogent
evidence of the Ankobiahene.
pg 119
Mr Bewes, who presided over the
Chief Commissioner's Court on
the 8th January, 1940, decided
that the judgment of the" A "
Court could not be sustained as
it went counter to the Fuller
Decision. He accordingly set
aside the judgment of the
Asantehene's'" A " Court and
restored the Ejisu Court
judgment. After this judgment
Sir Francis Fuller's boundary
was demarcated on the land with
the result, Mr Bewes states,
that neither party was satisfied
as that boundary did not go far
enough. The r.espondent before
the' Chief Commissioner's Court
of Ashanti
(i.e.,
the appellant in this Court)
applied to the Chief
Commissioner of Ashanti to
review his judgment and lay down
the complete boundary of Bepoase
land as between the parties.
This the Chief Commissioner of
Ashanti's Court (but neither of
the Native Courts) had power to
do by virtue of section 3 (3) of
the Boundary, Land, Tribute, and
Fishery Disputes (Executive
Decisions Validation) Ordinance
(Cap. 120) which was enacted in
1929. Mr Bewes accordingly
decided to re-open the case,
have a survey made of all the
boundaries the parties claimed,
and hear any fresh evidence
which the parties wished to call
and review his judgment as
necessary. This he did and in
his judgment of the 26th August,
1940, he said:-
" It is undisputed that the
Abrakasu people have been in
occupation " of some of this
land for a long time and they
have Sir F. Fuller's " decision
in their favour, and I feel my
judgment should be influenced "
by the facts of their occupation
and by this decision of Sir F.
Fuller. "I shall therefore lay
down boundaries between the two
parties in " conform as nearly
as possible with the two
requirements".
The boundaries laid down gave
the defendant-respondent a large
portion of the land that he
claimed to be Bepoase land and
Mr Bewes accordingly set aside
the judgment of the " A " Court
and ordered the
plaintiff-appellant to pay
two-thirds of defendant
respondent's costs.
It is common ground that the
Armitage and the Fuller
Decisions were duly validated in
accordance with the provisions
of Chapter 120, s. 3 (1). That
section provides that validated
executive decisions are invested
with full and definite legal
force and effect for all
purposes whatsoever as against
all persons whomsoever the
rights of the Crown alone being
reserved.
Chapter 120 was enacted on the
30th April, 1929, so that on
that date both of these
validated decisions were given
the effect of the words just
quoted. Assuming that the joint
effect of these validated
decisions was to award part of
the lands that the
defendant-respondent claimed to
be Bepoase lands to him it seems
to be necessary to consider what
is the effect of the arrangement
made by Ejisuhene Bouten as to
the division of the revenue into
three parts, an arrangement to
which it is alleged that all
parties agreed.
pg 120
There has been no finding of
fact by either the Ejisu Court
or Mr Bewes as to this alleged
agreement because both assume'd
that such an arrangement could
not over-ride the validated
decision of Sir F. Fuller. Such
assumption is, in our view,
incorrect since there was
nothing to prevent the parties
coming to an amicable and
binding agreement to settle the
dispute which had arisen between
them at that time. That such a
dispute should have ariRen is
not surprising because on the
face of them the Armitage and
the Fuller Decisions are
irreconcilable, since the effect
of the Armitage Decision is to
give Bepoase land to Ayinasu,
whilst the first decision of Sir
F. Fuller declares that they
shall remain under Abraka.
Further the two Fuller Decisions
are a little difficult to
understand and reconcile with
each other, though when they are
carefully examined and
understood there is nothing
inconsistent between them. The
first is declaratory of the
ownership of all Bepoase land,
the second lays down the
boundary of part only of that
land with Ayinasu lands, it
being only that part of the
boundary which was at that time
in dispute.
The only finding of fact as to
this agreement was made by the
Asantehene's "A" Court, which
confirmed it. We accept this
finding of fad and consider that
effect must be given to the
agreement. At the same time
effect must be given to the
decision of the Chief
Commissioner of Ashanti's Court
fixing the boundarie8 of the
whole of Bepoase land.
In the result the order of this
Court is that the boundaries of
Bepoase land as between the
parties shall be those declared
to be the boundaries between the
parties by the Chief
Commissioner of Ashanti's Court,
and the finding of the
Asantehene's Court " A" that
Bepoase land is held in common
by the parties and that the
prDeeeds of the land shall be
divided as was arranged between
them by the late Ejisuhene Kwaku
Boaten is upheld. And for the
purpose of avoiding any further
dispute, it is ordered that Mr
Bewes presiding in the Chief
Commissioner of Ashanti's Court
shall cause to be marked upon a
plan with accuracy and, if
necessary, after a further
survey, the boundaries fixed by
him and shall thereafter sign
such plan.
So far as they are in any way
inconsistent with this order the
judgments of the' lower Courts
are set aside. As to costs it is
ordered that in all three Courts
below each party shall bear his
own costs and that any sum paid
by one to the other by way of
costs shall be refunded. As the
appellant has been partially
successful in this Court he is
awarded half the costs of his
appeal to this Court, which half
we assess at £39 15s 9d. The
costs of carrying out the order
of this Court in regard to the
making and signing· of a plan,
including any costs of .further
survey, shall be borne by the
parties equally, and the parties
are hereby ordered to pay into
the Chief Commissioner of
Ashanti's Court such sum as the
Chief Commissioner of Ashanti
may require in respect of such
costs. pg121