[1992]DLSC4901 • January 27, 1992 • Supreme Court •
AKUFO ADDO vs. CATHELINE AND ANOTHER
The plaintiff, Mrs. Adeline Akufo-Addo, widow of the late Edward Akufo-Addo (former Chief Justice and President of Ghana), claimed that shares and a house legally held by her late brother, OforiPanin OforiAtta, were held in trust for her late husband’s estate. The properties included 1,950 shares in Beyeeman Freezing Company Limited and house No. 1203, Kaneshie Housing Estate, Accra. The plaintiff alleged that the shares and house were acquired from proceeds of eight trucks bought on hire purchase by her late husband but sold by her brother without consent. The defendants, executors of OforiAtta’s will, denied these claims, asserting the properties were acquired through OforiAtta’s own efforts.
read moreThis appeal came to us from a judgment of the Court of Appeal, setting aside the decision of the High Court dated 27 January 1992. On 1 October 1982, the plaintiff took out a writ of summons against the defendants claiming the following reliefs: “(a) A declaration that the shares held by the late Ofori-Panin Ofori-Atta (deceased) in Beyeeman Freezing Company Limited were held by him upon trust for the late husband of the plaintiff or (b) Further or other reliefs as in the circumstances may be just.” The claim was said to have been amended to include a claim to the ownership of house No 1203, Kaneshie Housing Estate Accra. The plaintiff, Mrs Adeline Akufo-Addo, is the widow of the late Edward Akufo-Addo, onetime Chief Justice of this country and later its President. The plaintiff’s action is against the executors of the will of one Ofori-Atta, a brother of the full blood of the plaintiff. By his will, Ofori-Panin Ofori-Atta, who died in a tragic lorry accident, devised certain s...