Ghana Geospatial ForumLand Boundary

FEBRUARY 25-26 2014ACCRA

KWAME TENADU SNR.

TITLE

• My boundary! Our boundaries! Unpacking the real meaning of this MYSTICAL word that haunts a nation and its people: LAP and beyond

Context of discussionboundary

ESSENTIALS FOR; 1. DECLARATION OF TITLE TO LAND

1. CONVEYANCING

2. GOVERNMENT1. TERRITORY2. REGIONAL3. DISTRICT

3. No “talk shop”4. Chart new and honest ways of doing things5. Reference from Bible, 1992 Constitution, Case

Law

CHARACTER OF A BOUNDARY

• From– Statute – custom – and case law

• To define a boundary in order to possess land it must be;– Shared– Marked– Seen and documented (orally too!!)

BACKGROUND – 1999 LAND POLICY OF GHANA

http://epa.gov.gh/ghanalex/policies/NATIONAL%20%20LAND%20POLICY..pdf1. Background of land management2. Problems and Constraints of the Land Sector

1. indeterminate boundaries of stool/skin land

3. The Policy Framework4. Policy guidelines5. Policy action

1. inadequate coordination with neighbouring countries

Declaration of title to land

• Jurisdiction– Competent Court and Value of land

• Capacity to sue and be sued– Peculiar land tenure system Head of families with certain

exceptions• Survey plan - Mandatory• Burden of proof• Type of admissible evidence to prove title, and

• Evidence decree 1972 section 153

• What the admissible evidence MUST prove

The Bible survey, and plans Joshua18 vrs 7 & 8

• http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+18&version=NKJV

• Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me.

• As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD.”

Verse 9

• So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.

The Bible and conveyance

• http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+34&version=NKJV

• The Appointed Boundaries of Canaan– Numbers 34, 1-15

• Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; 4 your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, ………………5 the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.

• The Leaders Appointed to Divide the Land– Numbers 34, 16-29

• 16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men:

Boundary and 1992 Constitution of Ghana

• 1992 Constitution– Article 4 (territories of Ghana)– Article 5 (creating, alteration or merger of regions)– Article 40 (International Relations)– Article 257(1) public lands– Articles 257(6) (mineral resources, eez,

continental shelf all vested in the President for its citizens)

Survey (site) Plan –declaration of Title to Land

• “Now it is the first duty of a Plaintiff who comes to Court to Claim a declaration of Title to show the

Court clearly the AREA of land to which His claim relates”

• Baruwa vrs Ogunshola (1938) 4 WACA 159, followed in Udofia vrs Udo Afia (1940) 6WACA; Kwadzo vrs Adjei (1944) 10 WACA 274.

• “It is impossible to make a declaration of title without a plan to which such a declaration can be tied”

• The above pronouncements by the WACA make it clear that without a plan showing the land in dispute a plaintiff is bound to fail in his action

• Declaration of Title to land and its defences ; Pg 6&7: by– E. D. KOM

Survey (site) Plan –declaration of Title to Land

• “It is quite impossible for a Court to give a declaration of title to an area of land unless the Plaintiff can show the Court the exact area of land claimed, and usually a plan is necessary for the purpose”

• Sapaku vrs Ahiaku (1942) 8 WACA 76 @ P. 82, Gawu III vrs Ponuku (1960)GLR 101.

purpose # 1 of a plan for the Courts

• Ollenu Jsc in Anane vrs Donkor stated as follows;

• “Where a Court grants declaration of title to land or makes an order for injunction in respect of land, the land the subject of that declaration should be clearly identified so that an order for possession can be executed without difficulty, and also if the order for injunction is violated the person in contempt can be punished. If the boundaries of such land are not clearly established, a judgment or order of that Court will be in vain”.

Purpose # 2

• Again a judgment for declaration of title to land should operate as res judicata to prevent the parties re-litigating the same issues in respect of the identical subject matter, but it cannot so operate unless the subject matter thereof is clearly identified. For these reasons a claim for declaration of title or an order for injunction must always fail if the plaintiff fails to establish positively the identity of the land to which he claims title with the land the subject matter of a suit.”

• (1965) GLR 188 at pp. 192/3

Maps as evidence

• Evidence decree 1972, section 153 provides: “All maps made under the authority of a

public entity and not made for the purpose of any litigated question, are presumed to be authentic and correct” • To rely on a map in support declaration of

title, two things MUST be proven;– That the map was made ante litem motam– That the map was made under the authority of a public entity (survey

Act 1962, Act 127)

Proof of Boundaries

• “The fact that the plaintiff has shown his boundaries clearly on the survey plan does not relieve him of proof of his boundaries.”

• It is necessary that a plaintiff to succeed must call his boundary owners to corroborate his claim as shown on the survey plan – therefore every plan endorsed on a writ of summons should show who your neighbors are.

– In Bedu vrs Agbi (1972) 2 GLR 238 C. A– Gawu III vrs Ponuku (1960) GLR 101, Darko V Affrim (1966)

GLR 36 SC

LAP AND BEYONDLaws of the Toddler by unknown

1. If I like it, it’s mine2. If it’s in my hand, it’s mine3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any

way6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are

mine7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine8. If I think its mine, it’s mine

LAP AND BEYONDGHANA CIV BOUNDARY DISPUTE Daily Graphic 12/01/2014

LAP AND BEYOND CULTURE OF IMPUNITY MUST STOP Daily Graphic 03/02/2014

LAP AND BEYONDBOUNDARY DISPUTES INCREASE WITH CREATION OF DISTRICTS Daily Graphic 15/02/2014

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• Any Questions