JOHN DOMINIC OWUSU vs. AKUA AKOMAH

The dispute concerned House/Plot No. 30 Block “K”, Kaasi, Kumasi. The plaintiff claimed title under an alleged written deed of assignment dated 6 July 1987 and sought declarations, damages, and specific performance to compel the defendant to perfect his title. The defendant denied executing the written assignment, asserted instead that there had been an earlier oral agreement in 1986 for sale of the property at a purchase price of ¢4 million, and counterclaimed that the contract had lapsed because the plaintiff failed to perform his part, that the alleged deed of assignment had been procured by fraud and was null and void, and for recovery of possession. The trial court found that the deed relied on by the plaintiff had not been executed by the defendant, that the plaintiff had paid only ¢2.9 million as part payment rather than ¢3.5 million as full payment, and that the plaintiff had gone into occupation. Despite those findings, the trial court granted specific performance. The Supreme Court held that, on the pleadings and findings, there was no enforceable contract on which specific performance could be decreed and that the plaintiff, having relied on a fraudulent instrument, was not entitled to equitable relief. Portion of judgment: “The deed of assignment on which the plaintiff relied for his title was not executed by the Defendant… The Court went on to declare that assignment null and void… The question then is this: What was the contract which the plaintiff says should be performed for him? The clear and only answer is that there is no contract whatsoever.”