[2016]DLCA4956 • March 24, 2016 • Court of Appeal
KWAME PERBI vs. NII KWAME PERBI II & 5 OTHERS
The plaintiff (Respondent) initiated a suit claiming ownership of a parcel of land at Samsam Odumase near Nsawam. The High Court Land Division, Accra, after hearing evidence, declared the plaintiff family owners of the land. The first defendant (Appellant) was dissatisfied and appealed. Both parties testified through attorneys holding Powers of Attorney rather than personally. The plaintiff's attorney tendered an unstamped Power of Attorney, which was admitted subject to stamping before trial's end, but this was not complied with before judgment. The appellant's attorney also testified but disclosed his capacity late during cross-examination.
read moreMARFUL-SAU, JA: - This appeal is taken from the judgment of the High Court (Land Division), Accra which was delivered on the 17th of November, 2014. The trial court after taking evidence from the parties entered judgment for the plaintiff; declaring the plaintiff family owners of a parcel of land situate at Samsam- Odumase near Nsawam as endorsed on the writ of summons. The first defendant who was dissatisfied with the judgment filed a Notice of Appeal on the 20th of November 2014 and formulated seven grounds of appeal. In this judgment the plaintiff will be referred to as the Respondent while the first defendant will be called the Appellant. Upon examining the record of appeal, we observed that the entire trial suffered some procedural errors committed by the parties and the court alike. These errors we find are very fundamental and for that matter flaws the judgment entered by the court at the end of the trial. We shall now address the errors committed in the trial. The first is th...