[2019]DLSC6573 • July 24, 2019 • Supreme Court •
AMIDU ALHASSAN AMIDU & ANOR. vs. MUTIU ALAWIYE & 6 ORS.
The dispute concerns ownership of a small parcel of land at Okaishie, Central Accra, claimed by both parties through their respective predecessors in title. The defendants' predecessor acquired land in 1910 at Kimboo Boundary Road, Ussher Town (now Okaishie), while the plaintiffs' predecessor acquired adjacent land in 1924 near Selwyn Market, Accra. The plaintiffs claimed the disputed land south of the defendants' property, supported by a registered indenture and site plan. The defendants contended that the disputed land was part of their 1910 acquisition and challenged the plaintiffs' land location, asserting it was at Cowlane, not Okaishie. A court-appointed surveyor prepared a composite plan, and oral evidence was led by both parties.
read moreMAJORITY OPINION WAS READ BY PWAMANG, JSC:- The parties to this appeal are litigating over ownership of a rather small piece of land at Okaishie in Central Accra which they claim through their respective predecessors-in-title. The land was acquired in the early twentieth century when the city of Accra was much smaller and not laid out as we have it today. The original acquisitions of both predecessors-in-title were covered by conveyances which delineated their grants on site plans. At the trial in the High Court, the parties led oral evidence and tendered their respective documents and site plans and a court appointed surveyor prepared a composite plan. The surveyor testified and was cross-examined. At the close of the trial, the High Court gave judgment in favour of the plaintiffs and granted the reliefs they claimed save for relief (e), a claim for damages for trespass. Upon an appeal by the defendants, the Court of Appeal disagreed with the trial judge’s findings on the evidenc.....