Court declares Odai Ntow family as rightful owners of South West Kwabenya lands.
An Accra High Court has entered judgement in favour of the Odai Ntow family over the South West Kwabenya lands in Accra.
According to the court, the Odai Ntow family are the owners of the South West Kwabenya lands.
In a suit filed by Offei Kwaku Mante and substituted by Reverend Alexander Aryeequaye and Nii Amu Mante against the defendants, the plaintiffs in an amended statement of claims indicated that they are the rightful owners of the disputed land and have exercised ownership rights over them for years.
The case of the plaintiff is that he is the head and lawful representative of the Nii Appenteng family of Pokuase-Otublohum, and that his ancestor, Nii Kofi Appenteng, a warrior, hunter and a member of the Akwamu tribe together with his children settled at Pokuase around 1934 where he was granted a parcel of land measuring 416.88 acres upon which he built cottages and carried out his farming and hunting activities.
According to the Plaintiff, his ancestor named the area Ambuanda, adding that having been in effective possession and exercising overt acts of ownership, the Appenteng family in 1960 caused the land to be surveyed and in 1990, the family made a statutory declaration, declaring the Appenteng family as owners of the Ambuanda lands registered as land registry number 969/1993.
This, the plaintiffs said was the state of affairs until defendants started committing trespass on the subject land.
However, according to the first and fifth defendant’s family, represented by Moses Mensah, they were in possession of their lands without any challenge until 1904 when a dispute arose over the land.
The presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Amo Yartey in his ruling said the plaintiff failed to provide enough proof of the acquisition of the land, adding that ” throughout the case, the plaintiff’s family claimed that the land in dispute was granted them by elders of pokuase but the law is that the proper person to prove the title of a grantee is the grantor, however surprisingly, the plaintiff failed to call any member of the said family in proof of their acquisition of their land.”
“The failure to call such material witnesses is clearly fatal to their case so per the totality of evidence led, it is my candid opinion that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that they are entitled to the reliefs they are seeking.
They also failed to identify boundaries of their land and also call material witnesses.”
All reliefs sought by the defendant, including an amount of GHC50,000.00 as damages, were granted by the court.
The Judge also ordered the lands commission to bring the judgement of the court to the notice of the affected persons for them to regularise their stay on the land with the defendants.
“Should the affected persons fail to atone tenancy, the defendants are at liberty to recover the said land,” Justice Amo Yartey added.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
News
Ghana-Colombia strengthens ties through diplomatic engagement
In an important diplomatic engagement, the Colombian Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Daniel Garces Carabali paid a courtesy call on the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, at his office in Accra to discuss some key areas of collaboration.
The meeting focused on pressing issues, including security, decongestion of Ghana’s prisons, prison reform programmes, training programmes, improving the welfare of prisoners and enhancing disaster management in the country.
The courtesy call underscores the growing bilateral ties between Ghana and Colombia, building on previous engagements, such as the visit of the Colombian Vice President to Ghana in 2023.
The meeting demonstrates the commitment of both nations to fostering cooperation and addressing shared challenges.
News
Ghana to host African Catholic Journalists from August 10
The Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP), also known as the African Catholic Union of the Press, in collaboration with the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners-Ghana (CAMP-G), is set to host its prestigious Triennial Congress from August 10 to 17 August, 2025.
The programme would be held at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Legon, Accra, Ghana.
This landmark event, the most significant gathering of Catholic journalists in Africa, will bring together media professionals, researchers, and experts in digital technology from across the continent and beyond.
The theme for the Congress is: “Balancing Technological Progress and the Preservation of Human Values in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Congress Highlights
The UCAP Congress 2025 will feature discussions and deliberations on critical issues arising from or related to integral human development, particularly within the framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the key sub-themes to be addressed include:Corporate Social Responsibility in Managing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Values, Deploying AI in Eco-friendly Business Start-ups in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Technology and the Reprogramming of Social Reality, Distortion of Reality in Social and Digital Media, Ecological Education and Action Against Unsustainable Exploitation of Natural Resources, and Media and the Promotion of the Recommendations of the Synod on Synodality in Africa.
Participants will include media professionals from both ecclesiastical and lay organisations, media researchers and academics, representatives from the Vatican, government agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the digital technology sector.
Objectives of the Congress
The primary goal of this Congress is to strengthen the capacities of media professionals and educate the public on the necessity of preserving human values amid rapid technological progress. Specific objectives include; Training 100 media practitioners in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, with a focus on balancing innovation and human values.
This will include promoting ethics and bioethics in technical research and technological innovations through media.
Advocating for human values such as respect for life, human dignity, charity, solidarity, and human rights and assessing the impact of technological progress to better understand the challenges, risks, and opportunities presented by AI will be part of the objectives.
UCAP is a continental organisation dedicated to promoting communication within the Catholic Church and its partners in Africa. With a mission to foster spiritual growth, collaboration, and responsible journalism, UCAP works to spread the Gospel, uphold human values, and support developmental initiatives across Africa and beyond.
UCAP is an independent, autonomous, non-political, and non-profit organisation comprising African Catholic journalists, communicators, academics, researchers, and institutions in various media fields.
