GEORGE OSEI KWAME, KWABENA AWORO AND OPANIN KWAME BOAHEN vs. OSEI AHENKRO

The appellants, beneficiaries under the Will of the late Opanin Kwabena Nyanteng, challenged the validity of the Will executed by the deceased. They contended that the Will was invalid because the jurat and lawyer's certificate lacked essential features required for a Will executed by an illiterate, specifically that the Will was not read, explained, and interpreted to the testator in a language he understood before he thumbprinted it. The respondents, named executors in the Will, defended its validity, asserting compliance with legal requirements including the presence of a jurat and lawyer's certificate, and argued that the Will was interpreted to the testator in Twi language. The appellants sought a declaration that the Will was invalid and an injunction restraining the defendants from exercising rights under the Will.

TORKORNOO, J. A: There are two strands of complaints in this appeal. That the learned trial judge failed to hear the parties before entering a ruling that dismissed the suit, and that he wrongly evaluated the relevant document which was a Will and found it valid, when it lacked certain essential features of a Will executed by an illiterate. The plaintiff appellants, who describe themselves as beneficiaries under the Will of Opanin Kwabena Nyanteng sued the executors named in his Will read after his demise. This was on 5th October 2009. The case of the plaintiffs was succinctly spelt out in their Statement of claim. They said that although the Will contained a jurat and a certificate of the counsel who prepared it, the jurat and certificate did not have required features and this invalidated the Will. First, within the jurat, they said there is no record that anyone ‘read, explained and interpreted the contents of the will to the late Opanin Kwabena Nyanteng in a language he unde.....