AMOAH vs. ARTHUR [1988]DLCA697

Date	1988-07-14
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1988]DLCA697

ABBAN J.S.C.

OSEI-HWERE J A

LAMPTEY J.A.

J. K. AGYEMAN FOR THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

NO REPRESENTATION FOR OR BY THE PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT.

[1988]DLCA697
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >AMOAH <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>ARTHUR <o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>[1987-88] 2 GLR 87<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
14 JULY 1988<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">

J. K. AGYEMAN FOR THE DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. <o:p></o:p>

NO REPRESENTATION FOR OR BY THE
PLAINTIFF-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">

ABBAN J.S.C., OSEI-HWERE AND LAMPTEY
JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ABBAN J.S.C.<o:p></o:p>The
appeal is from the judgment of the High Court, Sekondi, delivered on 14 January
1983. The respondent (hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff) sued one
Opanyin Kwasi Asare (now deceased) for the recovery of possession of a coconut
farm situated at Mpatase near Agona Junction in Sekondi District. While the
appeal was pending, the said Kwasi Asare (hereinafter referred to as the
defendant) died; and on the application of his customary successor, Joseph Kofi
Amoah, the latter was substituted by this court on 30 May 1988.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
action was commenced against the defendant, Kwasi Asare (deceased) in his
capacity as the customary successor of the late Nana Yaw Asamoah. It is
therefore to be noted that Nana Yaw Asamoah (deceased) was the person with whom
the plaintiff entered into the transaction involving the coconut farm, and the
nature of that transaction was the subject matter of the dispute before the
High Court, Sekondi.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
plaintiff claimed that the coconut farm in question was pledged to Nana Yaw
Asamoah after obtaining from the said Nana Yaw Asamoah the sum of ¢1,000 as a
loan. The loan of ¢1,000 was to be repaid within one week with an interest of
another ¢1,000. For the sake of emphasis, I refer to the relevant paragraphs of
the statement of claim. They read<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">“(2)
Sometime in 1967 the plaintiff borrowed from Nana Yaw Asamoah, the defendant’s
predecessor, the sum of ¢1,000 and promised to repay the defendant’s
predecessor the sum of ¢2,000 and pledged his coconut farm, the subject matter
of dispute to the said Nana Yaw Asamoah. (3) In 1975 the plaintiff went to the
defendant’s predecessor [Nana Yaw Asamoah] to tender the money advanced and
redeem the pledge but the defendant’s predecessor refused. (4) The defendant’s
predecessor died in 1976. (5) When the plaintiff learnt [of] the death of the
defendant’s predecessor he approached the family of the deceased, and provided
the necessary customary drinks and informed the family of the pledge.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It was
the case of the plaintiff that the defendant was made the customary successor
of Nana Yaw Asamoah and after the funeral rites of the said Nana Yaw Asamoah,
the defendant refused to accept the sum advanced although the plaintiff “was
prepared to repay the debt involved and redeem the pledge. Hence he instituted
the action.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
defendant denied the plaintiff’s claim. The defence was that the plaintiff sold
the coconut farm in dispute to the late Nana Asamoah. The gist of the evidence
of the defence was that in the lifetime of Nana Asamoah, the plaintiff
approached him in or about 1967 and offered to sell his coconut farm. Nana
Asamoah who came from Assin Foso, a cocoa growing area, told the plaintiff that
he would rather prefer to buy a cocoa plantation instead of a coconut farm. But
the plaintiff persuaded Nana Asamoah to buy the coconut farm. After seeking
advice from some coconut farmers, Nana Asamoah eventually gave in and decided
to buy the plaintiff’s coconut farm.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>A day was
then fixed for the surveying of the land on which the coconut farm was
situated. On the appointed day, which was a Saturday, the plaintiff took Nana
Asamoah accompanied by his son, Kwaku Antwi, the second defendant witness;
Kobina Boabeng, the fourth defendant witness; and Joseph Bakaah Kojo, the third
defendant witness, a land surveyor of Takoradi, to the land in disp</main>