GIFTY OSEI NTIRI vs. DAVID NSOWAH [2021]DLHC11351

Date	2021-01-26
Suit No.	SUIT NO. LD/0503/2019
Citation No.	[2021]DLHC11351

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE SOLOMON OPPONG-TWUMASI

KORSAH BROWN DOUGLAS FOR THE PLAINTIFF

[2021]DLHC11351
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >GIFTY
OSEI NTIRI<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>DAVID NSOWAH<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT,
ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">SUIT
NO. LD/0503/2019&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &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:
26TH JANUARY, 2021<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:108.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:-108.0pt;
line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">KORSAH
BROWN DOUGLAS FOR THE PLAINTIFF <o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE SOLOMON
OPPONG-TWUMASI<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top-width: 1.5pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-left: none; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-right: none; padding: 1pt 0cm;">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>&nbsp;BACKGROUND<o:p></o:p>The Plaintiff caused to issue out of the Registry
of this Court a Writ which was accompanied by a Statement of Claim stating in
more details her claim against the Defendant.<o:p></o:p>Upon the service of the Writ and its accompanying
Statement of claim on the Defendant, the Defendant refused and/or failed to
enter appearance thereby leading the Plaintiff to file a motion ex-parte for an
interlocutory judgment against the Defendant for his failure to enter
Appearance let alone file a defence to the Plaintiff’s action.<o:p></o:p>On 13th of July, 2019 this Court,
presided over by my senior brother, Obeng-Manu Jnr, JA, sitting as an additional
High Court judge, entered interlocutory judgment against the Defendant and in
favour of the Plaintiff. The Court then ordered the Plaintiff to serve the
Judgment she had so obtained as well as the Court notes for that day, the 13th
of July, 2020, as well as Application for Directions on the Defendant.<o:p></o:p>Earlier on the 14th of March, 20219,
this court then presided over by my brother Alexander Osei Tutu J, had upon an
application on notice brought by the Plaintiff herein, granted and
interlocutory injunction against the Defendant restraining him, his agents,
assigns, etc. from interfering with the Plaintiff and her children’s quiet
enjoyment of the disputed property, which was not described at all in either
the indorsement on the Writ of summons as well as in the statement of claim. This
defect was however cured by an amended Statement of claim filed by the
Plaintiff after her motion ex-parte for leave to do so had been granted by this
Court.<o:p></o:p>On the 11th day of December, 2020, when
the matter came up for the definite hearing of the case, this Court noted that
the Defendant had been served with a Hearing Notice informing him about that day’s
proceedings and he had also been served with the interlocutory judgment but he
still chose to exempt himself from the proceedings. Accordingly, this Court
gave the Plaintiff the opportunity to take the witness’ stand for her to
testify.<o:p></o:p>BRIEF
FACTS:<o:p></o:p>The facts of this case are very straight forward
and simple and do not involve any controversies. The facts show that the Plaintiff
has been married to the Defendant for well over 20 years and four (4) issues
have been produced out of the marriage. In the course of the marriage, the
parties pooled resources together and purchased a plot of land, that is the
disputed plot, and built a house on same. They then lived in a part of it and
rented out another part thereof to tenants. This house thus serves as the
matrimonial home for the married couple.<o:p></o:p>Sometime in 2017 or thereabout, there was a
dispute and the Defendant who had in due course found a paramour, moved out of
the matrimonial home and went and lived with his new lover, who in fact had
been the subject of the misunderstanding between the husband and the wife, the
parties herein. The Defendant, purporting to have sold the property, has
brought some persons into the house and he is now threatening to eject the Plaintiff
and her children from the matrimonial home using the purported purchaser(s) to
harass the Plaintiff and her children.<o:p></o:p>EVIDENCE
OF THE PLAINTIFF:<o:p></o:p>The Plaintiff testified on her own and did not call
any witness to corroborate her evidence. As stated from the facts, the Plaintiff
who virtually repeated her statement of claim stated in her evidence-in-chief
as captured in her witness statement, that she and her husband, the Defendant,
whom she married under customary law and usage in 1996, bought a plot of land,
namely the disputed property and built a 10-room dwelling place on same and
they named the house “Kingdom House”.
Thereafter they later moved into the House upon its completion and have since
been living there.<o:p></o:p>The evidence shows that the parties have four (4)
children between them whose ages range between 16 and 22 years. A dispute arose
between the parties in 2016 (2017) per the statement of claim paragraph thereof
7), as a result of which matrimonial quarrel/dispute between the parties, the
Defendant subsequently moved out of the House.<o:p></o:p>