ANANE vs. MENSAH

The facts in this appeal are not in dispute. Briefly stated they are as follows. The respondent inherited his uncle’s cocoa farm, adjoining which was virgin forest land, the subject-matter of this suit. The appellant was a caretaker employed by the respondent in respect of his said farm. It appears that during his caretakership the appellant, himself a subject of Nkawie Stool, approached the Stool (as owners of the disputed land) for a grant to him. The Stool accordingly made a grant to him, and sent an agent to demarcate the extent of such grant. In the result, seven acres of forest land adjoining the respondent’s farm, of which he was a caretaker, were granted to the appellant, and he cultivated them. The respondent instituted this action against the appellant, claiming the said land. The matter for decision was purely a question of native customary law, that is to say, whether the Nkawie Stool could make a valid grant of forest land adjoining the farm of a subject to another ...