[1965]DLSC1811 • May 17, 1965 • Supreme Court •
IN RE ESTATE OF KWABENA APPIANIN (DECD.); FRIMPONG vs. ANANE
Kwabena Appianin, deceased, was head of his family and possessed property, some inherited. Before his death, he convened a family meeting and expressed wishes that the defendant succeed him as head and inherit property. The defendant claimed a gift of all property and appointment as head by Kwabena Appianin, but this was contested. The family later appointed the defendant as successor and head, which the plaintiff challenged, alleging the defendant was deposed for mismanagement and the plaintiff appointed successor.
read moreJUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.S.C. Ollennu J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. This is an appeal from a judgment of Djabanor J. granting letters of administration to the plaintiff, the respondent herein, in respect of the estate of one Kwabena Appianin, deceased. Both parties, i.e. the plaintiff and the defendant are uterine grand-nephews of the deceased Kwabena Appianin; the plaintiff is the older of the two. At the time of his death, Kwabena Appianin was the head of his family and was possessed of property some of which he had inherited from deceased members of the family. A few weeks before his death, Kwabena Appianin convened a meeting of the family and to it he invited some elders of the Konongo town who are not members of the family. According to the plaintiff, Kwabena Appianin at that meeting directed, among other things, that the defendant should succeed him, both as to property as well as to the office of headship of the family. Such direction is, of course, not binding up...