CECILIA AKOSUA TETTEY & 3 ORS vs. CEPHAS KOFI TETTEY (DECD) [2005]DLCA6677

Date	2005-11-10
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. 279/2004
Citation No.	[2005]DLCA6677

AKAMBA J.A. (Presiding)

ASIAMAH J.A.

KUSI-APPIAH J.A.

[2005]DLCA6677
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >CECILIA AKOSUA TETTEY
&amp; 3 ORS<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>CEPHAS KOFI TETTEY
(DECD)<o:p></o:p>[COURT
OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<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">

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 279/2004&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: 10TH NOVEMBER, 2005.<o:p></o:p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%;
border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>KUSI-APPIAH, J.A. <o:p></o:p>The
defendants/appellants hereinafter called the defendants, are the children of
the late Bonifacious Tettey who died on 15th January, 1994.&nbsp; Upon the death of their father, the
defendants applied for Letters of Administration to administer the estate of
their deceased father.&nbsp; But before even
the application was granted, the plaintiffs/respondents, referred to here
simply as the plaintiffs who are sisters of the said Bonifacious Tettey had put
in a caveat against the issue of Letters of Administration on ground that the
Trevi Hohoe house included in the inventory by the defendants was not the self
acquired property of their late father and that it belonged to the plaintiffs
late father, Afli Tettey who died in 1947.&nbsp;
Subsequently, the application (for letters of administration) was
granted by the High Court, Ho to the defendants, excluding two houses (at
Akpafu Adorkor and Trevi Hohoe) which were found to be in dispute. <o:p></o:p>Prior
to the grant, the plaintiffs had issued a writ at the High Court, Ho against
the defendants who are also the grand children of the same Afli Tettey for the
following reliefs;— <o:p></o:p>(i)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Declaration that House No. AD 59 (then
numbered 50)Akpafu Adorkor and House No.TR/61, Trevi Hohoe do not belong to
Bonifacious Tettey (deceased) and therefore do not form part of his estate. <o:p></o:p>(ii)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
A further declaration that the said
properties were the self acquired properties of Afli Tettey, father of the
plaintiffs and grandfather of the defendants and upon his death, have assumed
the character of family property. <o:p></o:p>(iii)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
A declaration that the said properties
inventorised in the defendants' application for grant of letters of
administration to administer the estate of their late father Bonifacious Eugene
Kwasi Tettey is unlawful. <o:p></o:p>(iv)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
An order striking out the said properties
from the inventory attached to the application for letters of administration. <o:p></o:p>(v)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
A perpetual injunction to restrain the
defendants from dealing with the said properties as if same were part of the
estate of their said late father." <o:p></o:p>In
their pleadings the plaintiffs averred that they are the surviving children of
the late Afli Tettey and that their half brothers including the father of the
defendants are now deceased.&nbsp; They
contended that when their father Afli Tettey died, Bonifacious Tettey, the
father of the defendants who was their eldest brother was appointed to succeed
their father.&nbsp; And in that capacity the
defendants father assumed the role of a caretaker in respect of the estate of
their late father which devolves on his children.&nbsp; According to the plaintiffs, the Trevi Hohoe
land was bought by their father, Afli Tettey, who put up a swish house which
fell into ruins but was later rebuilt by Bonifacious Tettey into a
landcrate[sic] house.&nbsp; They further averred
that the Akpafu Adorkor house was also built by their father and was
subsequently renovated by their late brother Bonifacious.&nbsp; In support of their contention, the
plaintiffs tendered Exhibit "A" which is the receipt on the Hohoe
land issued to their father when he bought the land and Exhibit "B",
the building permit of the same Hohoe land in the name of Afli Tettey, their
deceased father. <o:p></o:p>On
their part, the defendants denied the assertion of the plaintiffs.&nbsp; While conceding that the plaintiffs father
bought the Hohoe land, the defendants contended that before the death of their
grandfather, (Afli Tettey), he had gifted the said land to his son,
Bonifacious, their father. The defendants claim that in 1954 their father
obtained the building permit at Hohoe and started construction in 1956 and
completed in the late fifties and rented it to P.W.I Azumah and others.&nbsp; On Akpafu Adorkor house, the defendants
averred that there was no existing house, which their father renovated.&nbsp; They explained that their father,
Bonifaciuos, built it and that the plaintiffs father had only two rooms house
beh</main>