[1960]DLHC69 • March 18, 1960 • High Court
ATTAH vs. LAGOS
The dispute concerned ownership and possession of land originally cultivated by the defendant's late father, Kojo Alata. The land was initially under the control of a woman, Adwua Brenua of Anomaboe, not the Andoe Stool. Following litigation, ownership was declared in favor of the Andoe Stool. Kojo Alata's occupation was thus subject to the Stool's authority. After Kojo Alata's death and a long period of abandonment, the Andoe Stool granted the land to the plaintiff. The defendant sought restoration of his late father's farms but had to apply through the Stool. The dispute arose over the validity of the plaintiff's grant and the defendant's claim to the land.
read moreJUDGMENT OF ADUMUA-BOSSMAN J. In this appeal form a decision of the Native Court “B” of the Asin Local Council, the judgment appealed from does not seem to me to be capable of support. That judgment did not take any account of the admitted fact that when the area in dispute was alleged to have been cultivated originally by Kojo Alata, defendant’s father (now deceased), that original cultivation was not in right or title of the Andoe Stool at all, but of a woman cal led Adwua Brenua of Anomaboe. It follows, therefore, that so far as the Andoe Stool is concerned, it never gave any right of occupation or possession of that disputed area, or the adjoining or any other area, to the defendant’s late father. When, therefore, as the result of litigation between the Andoe Stool and Kojo Alata’s grantor, a decision was given against her, and a declaration of ownership made in favour of the Andoe Stool, it is clear that Kojo Alata and his successors had no inherent right as a...