ASARE AND OTHERS vs. APPAU II [1986]DLCA882

Date	1986-06-12
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1986]DLCA882

ABBAN JA

OSEI-HWERE JA

AMUA-SEKYI J.A.

NANA AKUFO-ADDO (WITH HIM KUNTUNKUNUKU AMPOFO) FOR THE APPELLANTS.

TOTOE FOR THE RESPONDENTS.

[1986]DLCA882
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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ASARE AND OTHERS<o:p></o:p>

{COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA} <o:p></o:p>

[1984-86] 1 GLR 599<o:p></o:p>

DATE:
12 JUNE 1986<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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NANA AKUFO-ADDO (WITH HIM KUNTUNKUNUKU AMPOFO) FOR
THE APPELLANTS. <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;
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ABBAN, OSEI-HWERE AND AMUA-SEKYI JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF AMUA-SEKYI J.A.<o:p></o:p>In the
vicinity of the town of Pankrono, there is a tract of land which the parties to
this suit call Domi. Each side claims it by original settlement of their
ancestors some three hundred years ago. The appellants, who were the defendants
in the court below, are Nana Brobbey Kwakye Asare, Odikro of Pankrono, and Nana
Owusu Afriyie II, Ohene of Nkwantakese. The stool of Pankrono is a sub-stool of
that of Nkwantakese. The respondent, who was the plaintiff in the court below,
is Nana Kwabena Kuffour II, Ohene of Nkawie.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
action was commenced in or about 1954 by Nana Twum Barima Appau II, the then
Ohene of Nkawie, in the Kumasi Municipal Court. After two abortive trials, the
case was sent to the High Court, Kumasi for yet another retrial. Hearing
started before Roger Korsah J but was concluded before Anterkyi J. who entered
judgment for the plaintiff.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>By the
time the case came up for trial in the High Court the original parties and most
of the witnesses who gave evidence before the Kumasi Municipal Court were dead.
At the request of the parties the court adopted some of the evidence adduced in
the earlier trials and made them part of the proceedings in the High Court.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Each of
the parties traced his ancestry to Denkyira. According to the Nkawiehene, his
forbears migrated to Ashanti during the reign of Osei-Tutu and were settled at
Domi. After some years they moved to their present abode, leaving behind some
of their subjects under Safohene Gyamfi as caretakers of the land. He asserted
that the people now in occupation of the land still owed allegiance to him.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
forebears of the Nkwantakesehene also migrated to Ashanti during the reign of
Osei-Tutu. They were first settled at a place called Doti, but afterwards moved
to the Pankrono area and, according to the defendants, founded a number of
villages, including Domi. It was admitted that the disputed land is in the
occupation of subjects of the Nkawie stool; but the defendants explained that
Gyamfi was the son of Owurasie (or Wadiesie), the first odikro of Domi, who
permitted the said Gyamfi to live off the land, in other words the descendants
of Gyamfi and the Nkawie stool subjects on the land are there by the leave and
licence of the Nkwantakese stool.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
Nkawiehene did not rely solely on the traditional history to support his claim
to the land. He led evidence that Gyamfi came to Domi on his own, that he
brought a fetish called Tano Bodom from Denkyira and that a grant of land had
been made to another fetish called Tano Bekoe. In more recent times, the people
of Atimatim, a nearby village, had asked for, and had been granted, land for
the extension of their village. A road had also been constructed through the
land to link Atimatim with other villages. The predecessor of the second
defendant admitted the Denkyira origin of Tano Bodom and agreed it is on the
land to this day. He, however, disputed the right of the Nkawiehene and his
caretakers to make grants of the land.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>