THE REPUBLIC vs. WASSA FIASE TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND NANA AKWASI SOMTREY II (RESPONDENTS/ RESPONDENTS) EX PARTE: ABUSUAPANYIN KOFI NYAMEKY, NANA KORKYE II, EX-CHIEF OF DUMASE, DR. FRANCIS BIH, PRINCIPAL MEMBER AND OBAAPANIN YAA KOM [2013]DLCA8145

THE REPUBLIC vs. WASSA FIASE TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND NANA AKWASI SOMTREY II (RES... [2013]DLCA8145

Date	2013-05-16
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. HI/01/2013
Citation No.	[2013]DLCA8145

HONYENUGA J.A. (PRESIDING)

DENNIS ADJEI J.A.

ACKAH YENSU (MS) J.A.

MR. PRINCE HODO FOR THE APPLICANTS/APPELLANTS

MR. JOSEPH KOFI AMOAKO FOR THE RESPONDENTS/ RESPONDENTS

[2013]DLCA8145
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>WASSA FIASE
TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AND NANA AKWASI SOMTREY II<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENTS/
RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>EX PARTE:
ABUSUAPANYIN KOFI NYAMEKY, NANA KORKYE II, EX-CHIEF OF DUMASE, DR.
FRANCIS BIH, PRINCIPAL MEMBER AND OBAAPANIN YAA KOM<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL,
CAPE COAST]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

CIVIL
APPEAL NO.&nbsp; HI/01/2013&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: 16TH
MAY, 2013<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR.
PRINCE HODO FOR THE APPLICANTS/APPELLANTS<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

MR.
JOSEPH KOFI AMOAKO FOR THE RESPONDENTS/ RESPONDENTS<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:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

HONYENUGA
J.A. (PRESIDING), DENNIS ADJEI J.A., ACKAH YENSU (MS) J.A.<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;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>HONYENUGA,
J.A.<o:p></o:p>This
is an appeal against the judgment of the High Court, Tarkwa dated the 16th
day of April 2012.&nbsp; The said court
dismissed an application for Judicial Review in the nature of certiorari to
quash the decision of a panel set up by the first Respondent.&nbsp; The Applicants/Appellants would be simply
referred to as the Appellants and the Respondents/Respondents as the
Respondents.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
facts of this appeal are that sometime in October 2005, the 2nd
appellant was installed as the Chief of Dumasi Wassa within the Himan Division
of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area.&nbsp; A
rival group purported to have installed a rival chief, led to their arrest by
the Police on charges relating to breach of the peace.&nbsp; These persons were later arraigned before the
Circuit Court, Tarkwa.&nbsp; During the
pendency of the matter in the said court, the 1st respondent applied
to have the matter referred to it for an attempted settlement.&nbsp; The court obliged the 1st
respondent.&nbsp; On the 8th day of
December 2005, the 1st respondent met the culprits without due
notice to the appellants and set up a purported arbitration panel.&nbsp; The said purported arbitration panel
purported to have made some decisions which affected the appellants.&nbsp; Based on the said decisions, the appellants
who were out of time filed for leave to apply for judicial review.&nbsp; The trial High Court granted the application for
leave to quash the said decision.&nbsp; The
grounds of the application for judicial review to wit: certiorari are:-<o:p></o:p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That
the said arbitration was palpably wrongful in law as it lacked the features of
a valid customary arbitration.<o:p></o:p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That
it is wrongful for the 1st respondent to alter the boundaries of a
traditional area as set up by statute.<o:p></o:p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That
the 1st respondent has no power whatsoever to direct that one
Odikro/Subdivision should cease serving a particular division and transfer its
traditional allegiance to some other division.<o:p></o:p>Upon
hearing both Counsel for the parties, the learned trial judge dismissed the
application for certiorari as being statute-barred and it was improper before
the court.&nbsp; The trial judge also based his
decision on the fact that no decision was taken on the matter referred to the 1st
respondent and therefore certiorari would not lie.&nbsp; Cost of GH¢1,000.00 was awarded in favour of
the 1st respondent and GH¢2,000.00 in favour of the 2nd
respondent.&nbsp; Being aggrieved by the
decision of the trial High Court Judge, the appellants filed the instant appeal
based on the original ground of appeal with additional grounds filed as
follows:-<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “(a)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Th</main>