Achimota Secondary School, one of Ghana’s foremost Senior High Schools has won a ‘land’ mark case against Netlynk and 66 other encroachers who had illegally acquired lands belonging to the school.
These encroachers had dragged the school to court after the latter had warned of the imminent threats to its students and the future of the school through activities of the encroachers.
Giving judgment on the 7 year litigation, the Judge, Justice Aduamah Osei comprehensively dismissed the claims brought by Netlynk and 66 others against the School and instead upheld the School’s counterclaims. The court found that:
- The properties of Netlynk and the others are on the School’s land;
- The Oku We and the Owoo families had no title to the areas encroached on and had no right to grant leases of land to other people;
- Netlynk and the others were not “bona fide purchasers” and were reckless in acquiring their respective purported grants from the Oku We and Owoo families;
- Netlynk and the others have trespassed onto the School’s land; and
- The School is entitled to repossess its land and to damages for the destruction caused to the School’s properties including the farm and sewage system.
The court reserved judgement on the question of which of the 67 encroachers will be liable to pay damages for the destruction and to have their property repossessed by the School. The court ordered lawyers to file legal arguments on this question by 4th July 2017 and for final orders in that respect to be made on 17th July 2017. We will keep you informed.
The Old Achimotans Association (OAA) Secretariat indicated that it was optimistic of safeguarding the schools property for future generations through the right and legal processes.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @NewsyMartin