[2010]DLSC2569 • March 24, 2010 • Supreme Court •
NII AGO SAI vs. NII KPOBI TETTEY TSURU III
The dispute concerns the allodial ownership of Ogbojo lands in Accra. The appellant claims ownership by settlement through the Anahor and Dzirase families, founders and long-term occupants of Ogbojo village. The respondent claims ownership on behalf of the La Stool by conquest of the Nungua people in 1690. The appellant and his predecessors have exercised acts of ownership, including granting land to third parties without objection from the La Stool. The respondent asserts that Ogbojo lands are part of La Stool rural lands acquired by conquest and that only the La Mantse can validly alienate such lands.
read moreATUGUBA, JSC: The sole issue arising in this appeal is who owns the allodial title to Ogbojo lands in Accra? Is it the Labadi Stool or the Anahor and Dzirase families of Ogbojo village? In approaching this question one must bear in mind the intricacies of customary land tenure in Ghana. The need for caution in these matters is forcefully stated in holding 2 of the headnote to Bimpong v. Bawuah (1991)2 GLR 20 C.A, as follows: “(2) In this country, land might for generations be in the occupation of persons who were not owners but who might have rights of occupation as licensees or customary tenants or under other conditions known to customary law, the reversion nevertheless being in the owner. And the owners were willing to allow such occupation so long as the occupier did not make any adverse claims to the land. Hence, the mere occupation of land for long periods was not conclusive evidence of ownership; and it was therefore essential that the specific nature and origin of the.....