KASSEKE AKOTO DUGBARTEY SAPPOR & 2 ORS. vs. VERY REV. SOLOMON DUGBATEY SAPPOR AND 4 ORS [2021]DLSC10042

KASSEKE AKOTO DUGBARTEY SAPPOR & 2 ORS. vs. VERY REV. SOLOMON DUGBATEY SAPPOR A... [2021]DLSC10042

Date	2021-01-13
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. J4/46/2020
Citation No.	[2021]DLSC10042

DOTSE JSC (PRESIDING)

MARFUL-SAU JSC

LOVELACE-JOHNSON JSC

TORKORNOO (MRS) JSC

PROF. MENSA-BONSU (MRS) JSC

EDWARD SAM CRABBE FOR THE PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT/APPELLANT

MOHAMMED SAHNOON FOR THE DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT

[2021]DLSC10042
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >KASSEKE AKOTO DUGBARTEY SAPPOR &amp;
2 ORS.<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT/APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>VERY REV. SOLOMON DUGBATEY SAPPOR AND
4 ORS.<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS/ RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>[SUPREME
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;">

CIVIL APPEAL
NO. J4/46/2020&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;DATE:13TH
JANUARY, 2021<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>EDWARD SAM CRABBE FOR THE
PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT/APPELLANT.<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="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-add-space:auto;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:
solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">MOHAMMED SAHNOON FOR THE
DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p>DOTSE JSC (PRESIDING), MARFUL-SAU JSC,
LOVELACE-JOHNSON JSC, TORKORNOO (MRS) JSC, PROF. MENSA-BONSU (MRS) JSC<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:115%;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;PROF. MENSA-BONSU (MRS), JSC:-<o:p></o:p>This is an appeal against the unanimous judgment
of the Court of Appeal dated 11th April, 2019, in favour of the Defendants/Respondents.
The action that has culminated in this appeal to the Supreme Court was
originally commenced by the 1st &nbsp;Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant herein, Kasseke
Akoto Dugbartey Sappor on the 23rd November, 2011, in the High
Court, Accra. In a judgment dated 29th November, 2013, the High
Court found for the Defendants and the Plaintiff appealed to the Court of
Appeal. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the 1st Plaintiff/Appellant
on the grounds of lack of capacity. Aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgment
Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant has filed the instant appeal to this honourable
court against the judgment of the Court of Appeal. <o:p></o:p>&nbsp;FACTS<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On
or about 23rd May, 2006, the 1st-4th Defendants
as head of family and principal members of the Sappor family respectively, obtained
the grant of Letters of Administration from the High Court, Accra, to
administer the estate of their family member, Margaret Sappor (deceased). By a
vesting assent dated 16th March, 2007, the 1st-4th
Defendants assented to the vesting of the said family property in the 2nd
and 4th Defendants for their personal and beneficial use. By a
contract of sale executed between the 2nd and 4th Defendants
of the one part as Vendors, and the 5th Defendant as Purchaser, the
2nd and 4th Defendants purported to sell the said
property to the 5th Defendant as owners thereof, for the purchase
price of four hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GH¢400,000).<o:p></o:p>The Plaintiff brought this action, originally in
his own name and on behalf of the Koleh We Clan, a branch of the Sappor Family,
contending that the purported sale of the said property was wrongful and
fraudulent. He further alleged that pursuant to the contract of sale aforesaid,
which he described as “illegal”, the parties to the transaction purported to
execute an indenture dated 12th September, 2007, in furtherance of a
fraudulent scheme; and that this had wrongfully divested the Sappor family of
the ownership and benefit of the said property. He also alleged that the 1st
– 4th Defendants had concealed the wrongful sale of the said
property from the Sappor family until it came to light in the course of a
related legal proceeding in Suit No. BL 63/2008 entitled Very Rev. Solomon Dugbartey Sappor &amp; Ors. vs. Afi Binga Dugbartey Sappor. Against the
5th Defendant, the Plaintiffs contended that he knew or ought to
have known that the purported sale of the property to him was wrongful or
fraudulent as the 2nd and 4th Defendants had failed to
demonstrate that they had the express authority of the Sappor Family to enter
into the transaction. The Plaintiff accused the 5th Defendant of
having acted recklessly, or in concert with the purported vendors, when he
purported to purchase the said property without doing due diligence on the
property. <o:p></o:p>The Defendants mounted a vigorous defence to this
action. In their Statement of Defence filed on the 16th January, 2012, they
categorically denied all the averments of the Plaintiffs in support of the
claim, and contended that the 1st Plaintiff “was an imposter and not
a member of the Sappor family”; and therefore lacked capacity to commence this
action on behalf of the Sappor family. Soon thereafter, counsel for Plaintiff
applied for joinder of two co-plaintiffs, Samuel Dugbartey Sappor and Joseph Narh
Sappor, who were persons acknowledged to be principal members of the Sappor
Family, as 2nd and 3rd Plaintiffs respectively. &nbsp;The pleadings, however, were not amended. <o:p></o:p>The trial High Court delivered judgment in favour
of the Defendants. Aggrieved by, and dissatisfied with, the judgment of the
trial High Court, the Plaintiffs filed Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal on
17th December,</main>