[2001]DLSC6157 • October 24, 2001 • Supreme Court •
DR. JOHN R. KELLS AND JOSEPH K. WHAJA vs. DR. E. AKO ADJEI AND 3 OTHER
The case concerns the validity of a disputed 1989 Will of the late Dr. John Ackah BlayMiezah, a wealthy Ghanaian who died in 1992 leaving an estate allegedly worth $42 billion. The plaintiffs sought a declaration that the 1989 Will, naming Dr. John R. Kells as sole executor and beneficiary, was valid. The defendants, family members and close associates, denied its validity, alleging forgery and asserting the validity of an earlier 1988 Will deposited in Swiss banks. The High Court and Court of Appeal initially upheld the 1989 Will, but the Supreme Court reviewed the evidence and procedural issues.
read moreACQUAH, J.S.C: Dr. John Ackah Blay-Miezah, traditionally known as Nana Ackah Nyanzu 11, Gyasehene of Benin in the Western Region of Ghana, during his lifetime comported himself and lead such a lifestyle as to make the public believe that he was one of the richest, if not the richest, person then in Ghana. He died in Accra in 1992 leaving behind an estate alleged to value about forty two billion US dollars (US$42,000,000,000). As to whether he did indeed have all that much is another matter. However in one of his Wills dated 8th May 1988, he made total cash bequests of over eighty million US dollars (US$80,000,000) to about fifty named beneficiaries. It is in respect of this estate that one Dr. John Robert Kells, a teacher in Chinese exercise and meditation in London, sought a declaration at an Accra High Court that a Will produced by him and claiming to have been made by the late Dr. Blay-Miezah on 29th January 1989 was valid. The said Will named this Dr. Kells as the sole executor an...