THE REPUBLIC vs. KPONE TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND 2 OTHERS EX-PARTE: ALHAJI TETTEH KWAO AND 2 OTHERS [2008]DLCA6619

THE REPUBLIC vs. KPONE TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND 2 OTHERS EX-PARTE: ALHAJI TETTEH... [2008]DLCA6619

Date	2008-12-04
Suit No.	H1/167/2006
Citation No.	[2008]DLCA6619

ANIN YEBOAH JSC [PRESIDING]

AKOTO-BAMFO JA

GYAESAYOR JA

MR. WILLIAM ADDO FOR THE RESPONDENTS/APPELLANTS

MR. THOMAS HUGHES FOR THE APPLICANTS/RESPONDENTS

[2008]DLCA6619
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>KPONE
TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND 2 OTHERS<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENTS/APPELLANTS)<o:p></o:p>EX-PARTE:
ALHAJI TETTEH KWAO AND 2 OTHERS<o:p></o:p>(APPLICANTS/RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</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;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">H1/167/2006
&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: 4TH DECEMBER, 2008<o:p></o:p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:
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padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">MR. THOMAS HUGHES FOR THE
APPLICANTS/RESPONDENTS.<o:p></o:p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
115%;mso-outline-level:1;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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[PRESIDING] AKOTO-BAMFO, JA AND GYAESAYOR, JA<o:p></o:p>

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</div>GYAESAYOR,
JA <o:p></o:p>On
the 26/9/95, Asare Korang J [as he then was] in Suit HCT 135/94 entituled
Alhaji Tetteh Kwao and Two Others Vrs. Nii Tei Adumuah II and One Other entered
judgment of favour of plaintiff. <o:p></o:p>In
this judgment the court found that the alienation of land in Appolonia in the
Kpone Traditional Area could not be made without the consent and the
concurrence of the respondents who are elders of Appolonia. It then proceeded
to grant a perpetual injunction restraining the present appellant from
alienating Appolonia land without the consent and concurrence of respondent. <o:p></o:p>An
appeal was taken against the decision of the High Court in the Court of Appeal
where the decision of Asare Korang was set aside. The respondents were not
happy with the turn of events and also appealled to the Supreme Court which
laid the matter to rest by restoring the judgment of the High Court on the
12/4/2000. On the 3/11/2005 one Samuel Opoku Larbi was seen winning gravel on
the Appollonia Stool Land but upon his arrest he told the Police he was on the
land to win gravel with the permission of the appellants who are the Kpone
Traditional Council, the Paramount Chief of Kpone and the Chief of Appollonia
all in the Kpone Traditional Area. <o:p></o:p>A
Police report titled “illegal winning of gravel on Appollonia Stool Land shows
that AW and C Limited a Construction Firm was under-taking a construction of
feeder road between Appollonia and Bawaleshie all in the Kpone Traditional
Area. There was a need to do filling after the construction of culverts and
therefore applied to the Kpone Traditional Council for permission to win gravel
from the shoulders of the proposed road for the purposes of filling the
affected areas. The Kpone Traditional Council granted the permission and Police
Investigation” confirmed the authenticity of both the letters and the
circumstance under which it was issued.” The investigation also confirmed that
the third respondent being the chief of Appollonia when approached referred the
contractor to the Kpone Traditional Council. <o:p></o:p>In
closing the case and refusing to take any action in the criminal court, the
Police wrote “the facts so far gathered are most unlikely to sustain criminal
prosecution of Mr. Samuel Opoku as everything he did was with the consent and
concurrence of Kpone Traditional Council, the traditional owners of the land.
The complainant who belongs to one of the three ruling clans of Appollonia
could however seek civil redress if he so desired.” <o:p></o:p>Having
failed to use the criminal court to achieve their desire one Joshua Tetteh of
Appollonia who described himself as a lawful attorney of the applicant in the
court below filed contempt proceedings against the respondents in the High
Court Accra on 28/02/2005. In the affidavit in support he mentioned that the
Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the High Court that “the second and
third respondents cannot alienate land without recourse to the applicants in
the High Court. <o:p></o:p>It
is also true to say that he caused the arrest of Samuel Opoku Larbi who was
given license to dig the gravel and that the said license was in flagrant
violation of the High Court decision as affirmed by the Supreme Court. On the
10th day of June 2005 the High Court Accra in its ruling convicted the
appellants for contempt and sentenced the second and third appellants to three
days imprisonment. In addition to their incarceration they were each fined ¢30
million or in default one month imprisonment. <o:p></o:p>The
first respondent was fined ¢20 million cedis. The appellants have</main>