[2008]DLSC6438 • May 7, 2008 • Supreme Court •
PAUL ADOMAKO AND VICTORIA ADOMAKO vs. MRS OWUSU ASIEDU
The plaintiffs, a Ghanaian married couple residing in Canada, jointly owned a commercial property in Korle Gonno, Accra. They appointed the defendant's husband as caretaker of the property. After the husband's death, the second plaintiff requested the defendant to vacate the property due to alleged poor maintenance, which she refused. The plaintiffs sued for declaration of title, recovery of possession, and damages for trespass. The defendant claimed the first plaintiff had gifted his half-share of the property to her late husband, producing a handwritten instrument as evidence.
read moreDR. DATE-BAH, J.S.C. This is a dispute over property which turns on the legal efficacy of a purported deed of gift made by the first plaintiff to the husband of the defendant. The story behind the purported gift is as follows: the plaintiffs, a Ghanaian married couple resident in Canada, jointly bought a commercial property in Korle Gonno, Accra. Because they were non-resident in Ghana, they made the defendant's husband a caretaker of the property. As caretaker, he lived on the premises with his wife, the defendant in this case. After the defendant's husband died, the second plaintiff decided to ask the defendant to give up possession of the house, since in her view the defendant was not looking after the property well, but the defendant refused to do so. Accordingly, on 30th August 1999, the plaintiffs, though by then divorced, issued a Writ against the defendant claiming: a declaration of title to the property; recovery of possession; and damages for trespass. The first plaintiff g...