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Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate wins land case against Nii Adjetey Obour Buor II of Teshie

An Accra High Court has ruled that Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited are the legal owners of the land measuring 2,911.53 acres situated at Katamanso in the Greater Accra Region.

The judge in the case, Jerome Noble-Nkrumah, on May 6, 2020, delivered a judgment in which he stated that, “The court finds that the plaintiff, Nii Adjetey Obuor Buor II of Teshie, has failed to satisfy the court on all his claims against the defendants, including Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited.”

In view of this,  he dismissed the case on grounds that the plaintiff’s action failed in its entirety.

“A claim for declaration of title or order for injunction must always fail if the plaintiff fails to establish positively the identity of the land he claims,” the judge said.

The court awarded a cost of GH¢20,000 against Nii Adjetey Obuor Buor II of Teshie in favour of Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited.

Nii Adjetey Obuor Buor II, who is the plaintiff in the case, is claiming ownership of the land covering 1,640 acres, and sued Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited, the Nungua Stool and 14 other defendants at the High Court.

 As part of his reliefs, he asked the High Court to make an order directed at Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited to pay compensation for the area utilised to the family of Nii Adjetey Obour Buor.

Additionally, he also wanted the court to order the 16 defendants, including Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited, to release the remaining tract of land not utilised to the family of Nii Adjetey Obour Buor.

On their part, Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate traced its roots of title to a grant of the land by the Nungua Stool on  October 8, 1970 to the then Black Watch Cattle Breeding Farms. 

This grant was for farming purposes and the land was 4,244.25 acres. 

According to Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate, on January 18, 1974, Black Watch Cattle Breeding Farms assigned its interest in the entire land to Agri-Cattle Limited, with the consent and concurrence of the Nungua Stool.

The defendants stated that the land in question was also registered at the Lands Commission and, subsequently, the Nungua Stool granted a change in use of the land from farming to real estate development to Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate. 

The company said that at this point, it then changed its name to Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited on June 13, 2005 and same was duly registered at Registrar-General’s Department.

Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited, which was the fourth defendant, stated that following a compulsory acquisition of a portion of its land by the Government of Ghana on May 27, 1992 for State Housing Project, its land size reduced from 4,244.25 acres to 2,911.53 acres at the time it acquired its Land Title Certificate No. TD0513 in 1996.

Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate further told the court that it has been in undisbursed possession and occupation of the land granted to them by the Nungua Stool since 1974 and has built several houses and amusement park on the said land.

Apart from the lease agreements and Land Title Certificate, among other documents which Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate tendered as evidence of acts and events of living memory by undisturbed possession and occupation on its land, it also tendered in support of its claim, three high court judgments which all confirmed Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate as the legal owner of the land it occupies.

The cases are Suit No. AL/83/2007 Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited vrs Lands Commission, & Anor, Suit No. BL 313/05; John Armah & Ashaley Botwe Family vrs Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited and Suit No. FAL 363/13; the Numo Nmashie Families of Teshie/La represented by Daniel Nii Adzete Adzei and Nii Nmai Kodzo vrs Benjamin Quarshie Mensah, Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate, and the Nungua Stool.

Nungua Stool also confirmed that they had granted the land to Agri-Cattle Lakeside Estate Limited since 1974.

By Times Reporter

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