AMPAABENG AND OTHERS vs. EDWEY IX AND OTHERS

JUDGMENT OF TAYLOR J.S.C. In this case the plaintiffs, who were the regent and one of the elders representing the stool and Oman of Gomoa Akyemfo, brought and action against the first defendant, who is the chief, and ten other defendants who are subjects of the first defendants’s stool of Gomoa Mumford. The action is in reality a claim substantially by the stool of Gomoa Akyemfo against the stool of Gomoa Mumford for a declaration of title. It involves an area of land lying between the villages of Gomoa Akyemfo and Gomoa Mumford, the ownership of which the first plaintiff’s stool and the first defendant’s stool both lay claim to. The plaintiffs issued their writ on 23 July 1973 and it is amazing that almost sixteen years after the writ, the High Court, Cape Coast has not as yet disposed of the case. It seems to me that this inexplicable and unnecessary protraction of the hearing and disposal of cases will erode the confidence of the people in the ability of our courts to dispen...