Serwah and Another v Mirekua (SUIT NO.H1/104/25) [2026] GHACA 12 (28 May 2026)

JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

Judgment

pg. 1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE IN THE COURT OF APPEAL SEKONDI, 2026

Coram

SAMUEL OBENG-DIAWUO, J.A (PRESIDING) BARIMA YAW KODIE OPPONG, J.A FRANKLINA GESILA ADANU, J.A

SUIT NO.H1/104/25 28TH MAY, 2026

1. JANET SERWAH

2. BENEDICTA ASANTE --------- PLAINTIFFS/RESPONDENTS

VERSUS

Abena Mireku

(SUBST. BY EFUA ATTA PANYIN) -------- DEFENDANT/APPELLANT

FRANKLINA GESILA ADANU, J.A:

1.0 General Overview This appeal emanates from the decision of the High Court delivered on 16/01/2025. At the heart of this case is the fundamental question: who owns the JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 2 two properties in contention? This Court has been summoned to determine which of the two opposing parties the evidence of ownership of the properties sway in their favour.

Joseph L. Baron noted in his book, A Treasury of Jewish Quotations, 1956, that: “Where there is room for question, something is wrong”

2.1 Plaintiffs/Respondents’ Case (“Respondents”) Following a caveat filed by the Appellant in the Court below against the grant of letters of administration to the Respondents, the Respondents instituted an action against the Appellant claiming:

“a. A declaration that House No. 222C, North Ola, Cape Coast and House Number/plots B.29 Siwdu Estate is the bonafide/personal property of the deceased Samuel Kwabena Asante. b. An order directed at the Defendant to account for all rent received from House No. 222C to the Plaintiffs. c. An order directed at the Lands Commission to expunge from their records any purported registration dated 9th December 1988 between Samuel K. Asante and Madam Abena Mirekuwa and a conveyance dated 28th October, 2017 between Madam Abena Mirekuwa and Madam Grace Asante. d. Recovery of possession of disputed houses. e. Perpetual injunctions restraining the Defendant, her agents, assigns, family members, privies from interfering with the disputed houses. f. Cost in instituting this action.”

The Respondents are the surviving spouse and daughter of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante. It is their case that the late Samuel Kwabena Asante died intestate on 15/06/2011 and left behind properties including a 0.74-acre land JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 3 situate at H/No. 222C North Ola, Cape Coast, on which a four (4) bedroom house stands (the “North Ola property”) and H/No. Block 19 Siwdu Estate, Cape Coast (the “Siwdu property”), which is a one-bedroom self-contained property. Upon the death of Samuel Kwabena Asante, the Respondents applied for letters of administration, but a caveat was entered by the Appellant, Abena Mirekuwa who was the late mother of Samuel Kwabena Asante, claiming the afore-mentioned properties as her personal property and family property respectively, and not the personal properties of the late Samuel KwabenaAsante.

It is the case of the Respondents that after the first Respondent met the late Samuel Kwabena Asante sometime in 1974, they got married and had their first child in 1980. Subsequently, the Appellant brought into the marriage eight (8) children from different sources to live with them in their rented chamber-and-hall apartment situate at Master Sam area, Cape Coast. All the dependents were maintained by the first Respondent and her late husband.

Due to the increased size of the family, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante purchased four (4) plots of land from one Kojo Abaka in 1983, which was duly registered at the Lands Commission as No. CCT 445 A/83. To avoid encroachments, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante went into effective occupation and control of the land by engaging a security man to watch over the acquired land. The deceased further procured a building permit in his own name. With financial assistance from the first Respondent, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante commenced the construction of a four-bedroom house on the land while the family continued to live in the rented apartment at Master Sam.

The Respondents further averred that during the lifetime of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante, he was engaged in transport business and supplied building materials to PWD and other institutions. As the sole breadwinner of his extended JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 4 family, he maintained the Appellant, his siblings and their dependents. His numerous responsibilities drained his finances to the extent that he could no longer complete his four-bedroom house. Consequently, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante gave the uncompleted building to one Mr. Kwesi Edumadze Etrue to complete it. It was agreed that the cost incurred by Mr. Edumadze Etrue would be considered as rent. The said Mr. Edumadze Etrue therefore completed the property and occupied same, with his family, until his demise.

According to the Respondents, after acquiring the North Ola property, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante was informed that one Isaac Tewell was disposing of his self-contained one-bedroom State Housing Company Limited property described as H/No. B 29 situate at Siwdu (Siwdu property). To reduce the congestion in their rented apartment at Master Sam , the first Respondent encouraged and supported the late Samuel Kwabena Asante to purchase the property so that the children could be relocated to occupy the said property. All eight children or dependents relocated to the property at Siwdu after the purchase.

A search conducted at the Lands Commission in 2014 in respect of the North Ola property showed that the whole site was affected by a prior transaction, though particulars of that prior transaction were unclear due to faded records (Exhibit “D”). The Respondents therefore caused their lawyer to protest against the alleged fraudulent registration. However, the registration was effected in the Appellant’s name notwithstanding their protest, as a further search conducted on 08/02/2022 revealed that the site is affected by a conveyance dated 09/10/1988 between Samuel K. Asante and Madam Abena Mirekuwa and a portion marked A is attached by a conveyance da ted 28/10/2017 between Madam Abena Mirekuwa and Madam Grace Asante. The Respondents denied the claim of the Appellant and maintained that they are both the self-acquired properties of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante and therefore formed part of his estate. JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 5 2.2 Defendant/Appellant’s Case (“Appellant”) The Appellant is the surviving mother of the deceased who died during the trial of this matter in the court below and was substituted by her customary successor and daughter, Efua Atta Panyin. She disputed the various claims by her sister-inlaw and niece (the Respondents). According to her, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante was never the breadwinner for their mother, the late Abena Mirekuwa. The Appellant stated that her late brother worked in one of their mother’s two hardware shops at Zion Street, and therefore cannot be described as the ‘breadwinner’ of the family because it was his mother who owned and managed the business establishments that sustained the household.

It was the case of the Appellant that her late mother, Abena Mirekuwa purchased the Siwdu Estate property from a man of Northern descent (a “Dagarti man”) at a time when the late Samuel Kwabena Asante, her brother, had been ejected from his rented accommodation at the Master Sam area, so he was permitted to temporarily occupy the said property. The Appellant added that Abena Mirekuwa, who was the mother of thirteen (13) children, had some of her children sleeping in an adjoining room at the Siwdu property which was originally a kitchen but subsequently converted into a bedroom while spending their days with their mother at her rented house near Zion Church. The Appellant emphasised that none of her mother’s children depended on the late Samuel Kwabena Asante for their upkeep.

In respect of the North Ola property, the Appellant asserted that it was purchased and developed from the personal resources of the late Abena Mirekuwa with some assistance from all her children, including the late Samuel Kwabena Asante. At the time of acquisition, the documents were made in the name of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante because he was the eldest son and the most educated, so he held it in trust for her mother. To avoid any future litigation among the JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 6 siblings, the late Samuel Kwabena Asante transferred the property to her mother, the late Abena Mirekuwa, on 09/12/1988.

The Appellant further stated that it was rather the late Abena Mirekuwa who gave the uncompleted property to Mr. Edumadze Etrue to develop in the year 2000. After the expiration of the rent, Mr. Edumadze Etrue executed a statutory declaration to depose to the agreement regarding the house. It was the Appellant’s case that her deceased mother, Abena Mirekuwa, thereupon took possession of the property by moving in until she died in 2021. The Appellant further asserted that the late Madam Abena Mirekuwa paid property rate in her name during her lifetime.

In reply, the Respondents generally joined issue with the Appellant on her statement of claim. They, however, denied the assertion by the Appellant that their eight dependents were living with the late Abena Mirekuwa in her own house where the late Samuel Kwabena Asante had sought permission to live with the family. The Respondents maintained that out of the eight children living with them, four of them were store attendants working at Samuel Kwabena Asante’s plumbing shop, two were mechanic apprentices while one had formal education at a Technical Institute.

3.0 The Trial Court At the trial, the only issue which the trial court had to determine was whether the North Ola and Siwdu Estate properties were the bona fide properties of the deceased Samuel Kwabena Asante.

The Appellant did not testify herself. By a power of attorney, she appointed her sister Abena Mansa to testify on her behalf. Abena Mansa tendered Exhibit 2A&2B which comprised a search report dated 31/03/2017 indicating that the JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 7 North Ola property was affected by a conveyance dated 09/12/1988 between the late Samuel Kwabena Asante and the late Abena Mirekuwa and registered with the Cape Coast Lands Commission. The property rate paid by the late Abena Mirekuwa in 2017 was produced as Exhibit

3. The statutory declaration executed by Mr. Edumadze Etrue was tendered as Exhibit 4.

In the case of the Respondents, the second Respondent, Benedicta Asante testified for herself and on behalf of the first Respondent. She tendered in evidence the indenture dated 26/07/1983 between Kojo Abeka and the late Samuel Kwabena Asante registered at Cape Coast Lands Commission with registration No. CCT 445A/83 as Exhibit A.

This was followed by Exhibit “B” Series in support of the payment of property rate in the name of the late Samuel Kwa bena Asante to the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly in respect of the North Ola property between 2018 and

The building permit dated 8/8/1983 obtained by the late Samuel Kwabena Asante in his name was tendered as Exhibit “C” Series.

Exhibit D, dated 6/08/2014, pertained to the search conducted by the Respondents, which revealed that the entire site was affected by a transaction, but the particulars of the transaction were unclear due to the faded nature of the records.

The Respondents’ lawyer’s letter dated 7/08/2014 to the Cape Coast Regional Lands Officer to prevent fraudulent registration regarding the property of the late Asante was produced as Exhibit E.

JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 8 Exhibit “F” Series dated 23/09/1983 was produced in support of documentation in respect of the Siwdu property in favour of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante.

Exhibit “G” Series was tendered in support of the payment of ground rents and property rates to the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly in the name of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante. Exhibit H dated 24/ 05/2012 was a confirmation letter issued by the then Zonal Director of State Housing Company Limited to the Commercial Manager of Electricity Company of Ghana at the time that the late Samuel Kwabena Asante had purchased House No. B. 29 Siwdu Estate from State Housing Company Limited.

The second Respondent further produced Exhibit 1 series in support of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante’s company Samsant Construction Works and the payments of his tax liabilities to the Internal Revenue Service (now GRA).

Kwabena Akoto, who was a neighbour of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante and Francis P. Addo, a professional plumber , both testified in favour of the Respondents.

4.0 Decision of the Court

At the end of the trial, the High Court entered judgment in favour of the Respondents for all the reliefs except relief (b) since no evidence was adduced in respect of that relief. The Court held that the Plaintiffs had satisfactorily proven their case on the balance of probabilities. Accordingly, the North Ola and Siwdu properties were declared as the bona fide or personal properties of the late Samuel Kwabena Asante; therefore, upon the death intestate, the properties devolved onto the Respondents. The court ordered the Respondents to recover possession of the properties and perpetually restrained the Appellant, her agents, assigns, family JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 9 members and privies from interfering with the disputed properties in any way. Dissatisfied with the decision of the court below, the Appellant lodged this instant appeal based on the grounds detailed in the notice of appeal.

5.0 Grounds of Appeal

The Notice of Appeal explicitly states the following grounds of appeal: “a. That the judgment is against the weight of the evidence on record

b. That the trial judge erred when he gave greater weight to the Plaintiffs/Respondents’ Exhibit B Series procured recently for the purpose of the litigation and without regard to the Defendant/Appellant’s Exhibit 3 and declared ownership of House No. 222C, North Ola, Cape Coast to Samuel Kwabena Asante.

c. The trial judge erred in expunging the registration of 2A and 2B from the records of the Lands Commission.

d. That the trial judge erred in law when he declared that House No. 222C, North Ola, Cape Coast and House Number/plots B 29 Siwdu Estate devolved exclusively unto the Plaintiffs/Respondents upon the death intestate of Samuel Kwabena Asante without regard to the protected legal interest of the Defendant/Appellant (Abena Mirekuwa, mother) in the estate of Samuel Kwabena Asante under Intestate Succession Act 1985, ( PNDCL 111).

e. Other grounds of appeal may be filed upon receipt of a copy of the record of proceedings.

6.0 Applying the Law and Analysis Grounds (a) and (b) will be analysed together. This would be followed by ground (d), which is on a point of law. We note that the particulars of error or nature of JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -

pg. 10 the error committed by the trial judge in respect of ground (c): “The trial judge erred in expunging the registration of 2A and 2B from the records of the Lands Commission.” has not been spelt out by the Appellant. The rules mandatorily require that particulars of alleged errors and the type of error are provided . A ground of appeal fails the competency test if it raises no clear grievance capable of review by an appellate court. Rule 8 (4) and (6) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 1997 (C.I. 19) provide as follows:

“(4) “Where the grounds of an appeal allege misdirection or error in law, particulars of the misdirection or error shall be clearly stated.

(6) No ground which is vague or general in terms or which discloses no reasonable ground of appeal shall be permitted, except the general ground that the judgment is against the weight of the evidence; and any ground of appeal or any part of the appeal which is not permitted under this rule may be struck out by the Court of its own motion or on application by the respondent.”

Amadu JSC fortified by the decision in International Rom Ltd v. Vodafone Ghana Ltd & 2 Others [2016] DLSC 2791 which observed that the magnanimity shown by the courts over some of the lapses and the flagrant violation of the rules of engagement is often taken as a sign of weakness, followed the same precedent by striking out the offending grounds of appeal as incompetent when he pronounced in the case of Empire Builders Limited v. Topkins Enterprises Ltd & 4 Others [2020] JELR 92050 (SC) that:

“The proper formulation of grounds of appeal assists the court to clearly identify and situate the point of law or fact which the judgment appealed against is assailed … It is for this reason that the rules of the court require clarity where an Appellant alleges a misdirection or any error on the part of a Trial or JANET SERWAH & ANOR V. ABENA MIREKUA (SUBSTITUTED BY AFUA ATTA PANYIN) -