WILLIAM KWAME SABLAH vs. CECILIA SENU AND PAULINA SENU [2020]DLCA9352

Date	2020-05-13
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO.: H1/06/2020
Citation No.	[2020]DLCA9352

V. D. OFOE JA (PRESIDING)

C. J. HONYENUGA JA

AMMA A. GAISIE (MRS.) JA

MR. SOLOMON ESHUN FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT

MR. KUMADEY FOR DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT

[2020]DLCA9352
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >WILLIAM KWAME SABLAH<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>CECILIA SENU AND PAULINA SENU<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANTS/
RESPONDENTS)<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;
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APPEAL NO.: H1/06/2020&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: 13TH MAY, 2020<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>MR.
SOLOMON ESHUN FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT<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="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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KUMADEY FOR DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>V.
D. OFOE JA (PRESIDING), C. J. HONYENUGA JA, AMMA A. GAISIE (MRS.) JA<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>HONYENUGA,
JA<o:p></o:p>On the 17th
day of April 2018, the High Court, Tema dismissed the Plaintiff’s action with
no order as to costs.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Aggrieved by the
decision of the High Court, the Plaintiff filed an appeal to this Court on the
6th day of July 2018, based on the following grounds:-<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “(1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The judgment is against the weight of
evidence.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;(2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; the
Judge erred when he held that the decision in the case of BROWN VRS ANSAH
[1992] 2 GLR is no longer good law”.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The reliefs sought
from this Court is that:-<o:p></o:p>(a)&nbsp;&nbsp; The whole judgment be set aside.<o:p></o:p>(b)&nbsp;&nbsp; The court to declare the Will of the
Testatrix invalid and the Probate founded on it be cancelled.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In this appeal, the
Plaintiff/Appellant will simply be referred to as the Plaintiff and the
Defendants/Respondents as the Defendants.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The facts
constituting this appeal are that Beatrice Agbesi (Deceased), who was the
mother of the plaintiff and the defendants made a Will but on the 14th
September, 2012 she died.&nbsp; On the 8th
May 2012, the Will was executed and read after her death.&nbsp; On the 15th August 2013, the said
Will was admitted to probate.&nbsp; The
defendants were appointed as the Executrices of the Will.&nbsp; The plaintiff claimed that his mother’s Will
was not read and interpreted to her in the Tongu language she understood before
making her mark and therefore it was invalid and could not confer any interest
on the beneficiaries therein.&nbsp; As a
result, the plaintiff caused a writ of summons to be issued against the
defendants, seeking the following reliefs:-<o:p></o:p>“(a)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A declaration that the purported Will of
the Testatrix, Beatrice Agbesi was invalid since there was no attestation that
the Will was read and interpreted to her in the language she understood before
she made her mark because the Testatrix was illiterate.<o:p></o:p>(b)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An order for the cancellation of the said
Will as being invalid.<o:p></o:p>(c)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A further order that if any </main>