EDWARD NANKA BRUCE AND DR. OONA NANKA BRUCE (PLAINTIFFS) vs. EDDIE LARBI (DEFENDANT) [2002]DLHC7460

EDWARD NANKA BRUCE AND DR. OONA NANKA BRUCE (PLAINTIFFS) vs. EDDIE LARBI (DEFEND... [2002]DLHC7460

Date	2002-11-22
Suit No.	SUIT NO. L.135/97
Citation No.	[2002]DLHC7460

HER LORDSHIP MRS. KUSI-APPOUH J.

[2002]DLHC7460
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >EDWARD NANKA BRUCE AND DR. OONA NANKA BRUCE<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFFS)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>EDDIE LARBI<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>[HIGH COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">SUIT NO. L.135/97&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE:
22ND NOVEMBER, 2002<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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HER LORDSHIP MRS.
KUSI-APPOUH, J.<o:p></o:p>

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

</div>The
plaintiffs in this action claims from the defendant herein the following
reliefs indorsed on the Writ of Summons filed on 5/3/97 namely:— <o:p></o:p>1) Declaration of title to all that piece of land situate
covering an area of 0.55 acres at West Legon Kisseman — Accra and bounded on
the North West by the Nii Owoo family land measuring 100 feet more or less and
the South East by a proposed road measuring 100 feet more or less and the South
East by Mercy Nanka Bruce’s land measuring 240 feet more or less and on the
South West by a proposed road measuring 100 feet more or less which piece of
land is more particularly delineated on the plan attached to the deed dated 8th
December 1994, ref. LVB 9920/94. <o:p></o:p>2) Perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his
workers, servants, agents, representatives and assigns from entering the land
and in any way dealing or interfering with the land. <o:p></o:p>3) Damages for trespass. <o:p></o:p>The
defendant herein has also counterclaimed for the following reliefs: <o:p></o:p>a) A declaration that the land described in the
indorsement of the Statement of Claim is the property of the defendant. <o:p></o:p>b) Perpetual Injunction restraining the Plaintiffs, their
workers, servants, agents, representatives and assigns from entering the land
in any way dealing or interfering with the land. <o:p></o:p>c) Damages for trespass and punitive costs. <o:p></o:p>The
case of the plaintiffs herein as gathered from the pleadings and evidence led
is simple, and straightforward. According to the 1st plaintiff herein Mr.
Edward Nanka Bruce he arranged with one Paul Thompson from the Owoo family. The
said plots were for his two daughters by name Dr. Nanka Bruce and Mercy Nanka
Bruce who live abroad. The cost of one plot was an amount of ¢2 million Cedis.
An amount of ¢2 million cedis was paid as part payment. On the payment of the
full price of ¢6 million Cedis a composite receipt was issued to him and given
an Indenture covering the land. The said indenture was dated 8th day of
December 1992, stamped and tendered as Exhibit A. <o:p></o:p>The
indenture Exhibit A was sent to the Land Title Registry for further
registration. It was however not registered because of the embargo placed on
the area due to the dispute between the Owoo family and the State Insurance
Corporation. He was however checking from time to time whether registration had
started. In order to secure the land, he decided to have same fenced. He sent
blocks, cement, stones and sand to the land for the construction of the wall.
He was informed in the early part of 1994 by Mr. Thompson that somebody had
broken part of the wall and it came out that it was the defendant who caused
the damage. <o:p></o:p>Even
though the matter was reported to the police and Land Title Registry and the
defendant was advised to stop further developments he continued to build. The
Commissioner CID at the Police Headquarters wrote Exhibit B to the defendant
and the Owoo family on 4th November 1996 to the Chief Registrar of the Land
Title Registry informing him of the mistakes the family had made. According to
the plaintiff he lodged his document with the Land Title Registry in 1994, and
was given a Yellow card which he tendered as Exhibit C. He therefore claims as
per his Writ of Summons. <o:p></o:p>Under
cross-examination, the plaintiff denied there was an occasion where the Owoo
family allocated him another plot in place of the disputed one. <o:p></o:p>The
plaintiffs first witness was Paul Tettey Agbo Thompson a geologist living at
West Legon. His evidence simply put was that he negotiated with the Owoo family
for four plots of land for the plaintiffs herein. The purchase price was an
amount of ¢1.5 million cedis per plot. The purchase price of ¢6 million cedis
was paid by the plaintiffs between June and December 1992. According to him the
family issued him with an indenture which he identified as Exhibit A. He heard
in 1994 that the embargo on the registration because of the dispute between the
Owoo family and the State Insurance Corporation had been lifted, he took the
document to the Lands Registry and was given a receipt, and a Yellow Card
tendered as Exhibit D, D1. <o:p></o:p>