FOLI AND OTHERS vs. AGYA-ATTA AND OTHERS (CONSOLIDATED)

The parties were neighbouring communities: the plaintiff represented Nkonya Tayi, while the defendants were subjects of Alavanyo Kpeme. Their lands were separated by the historic Grunner boundary drawn in 1913. Although the parties accepted that Dr. Grunner demarcated the boundary, they had long disputed the authentic map and the physical location of the boundary on the ground. In earlier litigation concluded in 1957, the boundary claimed by the plaintiff was upheld, but claims for recovery of possession, damages and injunction were dismissed because they were not pressed. In the present consolidated actions, commenced in 1961, the plaintiff sought recovery of possession of land on the Nkonya side of the Grunner boundary and a perpetual injunction, alleging that the defendants continued to farm there and refused to come to terms with the plaintiff’s stool after the boundary had been established. Portion relied on: “The plaintiff and the defendants in these consolidated cases are neighbours... The parties have always accepted that the boundary separating their lands was demarcated by Dr. Grunner... The writs in these actions were issued in 1961... [claiming] Recovery of possession... [and] Perpetual injunction...”

JUDGMENT OF AMISSAH J.A. The plaintiff and the defendants in these consolidated cases are neighbours. The plaintiff and his people are from Nkonya Tayi. The defendants are from Alavanyo Kpeme. The plaintiff and the defendants are separated by a now famous historical boundary. It is the Grunner boundary, so called after Dr. H. Grunner, a German administrator in Togo before the first World War, who drew it on a map showing the extent of British and German territorial interests in the area in 1913. The parties have always accepted that the boundary separating their lands was demarcated by Dr. Grunner. Their dispute has been over which map the authentic Grunner boundary could be found on, a matter that was settled some twenty years ago, and how this documentary demarcation is actually reflected on the land itself. The writs in these actions were issued in 1961 by the then regent of Nkonya Tayi for and on behalf of his subjects. In each, he claimed: “(1) Recovery of possess.....