TANKO vs. KARAMI [1985]DLCA685

Date	1985-05-11
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1985]DLCA685

OSEI-HWERE JA

AMPIAH JA

ESSIEM J.A.

AFARI YEBOAH FOR THE APPELLANT.

W.Y.A.N. ADUMUA-BOSSMAN FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1985]DLCA685
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >TANKO <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>KARAMI<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA] <o:p></o:p>[1980] GLR 189<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
11
MAY 1989<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

AFARI YEBOAH FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

W.Y.A.N. ADUMUA-BOSSMAN FOR THE RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

OSEI-HWERE, AMPIAH AND ESSIEM JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGEMENT OF OSEI-HWERE J.A.<o:p></o:p>Following
the judgment one Madam Ali Baba had obtained against the defendant herein he
caused the defendant’s house at Aboabo, Kumasi, to be attached under a writ of
fi:fa for the recovery of the judgment debt. The house was allegedly sold at a
public auction to the plaintiff as the highest bidder. It was the case for the
plaintiff that after he had been issued with the certificate of purchase some
“connections” of the defendant solicited on his behalf to allow the defendant
to stay in the house as the plaintiff’s tenant. The agreed rent was ¢25 a
month. The defendant stayed in the house and paid the rent of ¢25 until the end
of July 1973 after which he refused to pay rent any longer. Wherefore the
plaintiff sued not only because the defendant denied owing any arrears of rent
but also because he claimed title to the house. The plaintiff’s writ was
indorsed for rent arrears of ¢330, ejectment and possession and mesne profits.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
defendant took a simple but bold stand. He denied that his house was ever sold
to the plaintiff at a public auction. He also denied that he ever became a
tenant to the plaintiff. So far as he was concerned he contended that he had
always enjoyed quiet and peaceful possession of his house (plot 12, Block 10,
formerly plot 14, Block 11, Aboabo No 1, Kumasi) with his wife and children to
the exclusion of the plaintiff. By his amended statement of claim the plaintiff
described the house as plot 10, Block 12 (but formerly known as plot 14, Block
11). The trial circuit judge found for the plaintiff and gave him judgment, in
effect, as per the indorsements on his writ. The judge also found that the
defendant attempted to deceive the court by misdescribing his house which was
sold as plot 12, block 10.<o:p></o:p>Aggrieved
by the judgment the defendant has appealed to this court, first, on the handy
ground that the judgment was against the weight of evidence and, secondly, on
the ground of error in law on the part of the trial circuit judge in relying on
a document which is void for non-registration under the Land Registry Act, 1962
(Act 122). A further ground was articulated in an additional ground of appeal
as follows:<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“That the
trial judge erred in holding that the plaintiff acquired a valid title to the
land in issue via a purchase of the same in the face of patent evidence on
record to the effect that the sale was conducted privately thus rendering the
whole transaction unlawful and consequently null and void.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
document castigated for non-registration by the defendant’s solicitor who
formulated and signed the notice of appeal is the certificate of purchase,
exhibit A, which issued under the hand of the circuit judge. Such a certificate
is, of course, expressly exempted from registration under Act 122 and it is
surprising that its non-registration should have been raised at the court below
and perpetuated as a ground of appeal before this court.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It must
be confessed that the further ground of appeal above-quoted appeared
insurmountable and the winning confidence with which it was argued by the
defendant’s counsel was, at first blush, almost infectious. Counsel for the
plaintiff, indeed, had to strain every nerve in eroding its impression on the
court. That ground of appeal originated from the evidence of the plaintiff’s
own witness, the second plaintiff witness, a friend to the defendant who also
bore his name. His evidence will repay extensive quotation as follows:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“. . .
the plaintiff sent for me one day in the house. I went to see him. He told me
that the defendant’s house was being sold by auction. We looked for the
defendant, he was nowhere to be found, to tell him that his house was being
sold. He was then not in town. T</main>