We did not lose Lakeside Estate case — La Stool

The La Stool has explained that there was no winner in the Supreme Court case involving the Stool and Agric Cattle and Lakeside Estate over the 2,911 acres of land awarded by the Court of Appeal as both parties were adjudged to be non existent as at the time the writ was issued.

According to the Stool, “the status quo remains that the 49,420.53 acres of land continues to be occupied by the 17 villages of La, including Maledjor, Amanfrom, Fafraha, Amrahia, Adentan, Madina, Ashieyie”.

Reaction

The La Stool gave the clarification in reaction to a story carried in the May 19, 2020, issue of the Daily Graphic that the Supreme Court had dismissed an appeal by the La Stool and three others against Agric Cattle and Lakeside Estate over some 49,420.53 acres of land situated at La Tsui Anaa.

“”It is not true that the appeal was dismissed as the case was not decided on merit. The Supreme Court simply set aside the writ and annulled all processes and all judgment flowing from it including the judgement of the Court of Appeal in favour of Lakeside in 2018 and the earlier judgement of the High Court in favour of the La Stool in 2017,” the rejoinder stated.

“In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, annulled the entire process on the basis that the original suit at the High Court, which culminated in the appeal, was a nullity because it was initiated by the La Traditional Council which had no capacity,” portions of the story said.

The story added that: “It was the decision of the apex court that although the plaintiffs took steps to amend the writ and replaced the La Traditional Council with the La Stool, the fact that La Traditional Council had no capacity to sue rendered the entire legal action from the High Court to the Court of Appeal a nullity.”

Explanation

However, the La Stool explained that the Supreme Court declared Agric Cattle Limited and Lakeside Limited also to be “non-existent” so they could not be said to be beneficiaries of the judgment of the Supreme Court.

“Any assertion, therefore, to the extent that Agricattle Limited or Lakeside Limited has won or that the La Stool has lost any land is palpably false. Any suggestion that Lakeside is the owner of 49,420.53 acres of land in the judgment is absolutely false and mischievous and an attempt to take the Ghanaian public on a camel ride,” it said.

The La Stool explained further that the judgement delivered on March 18, 2020 by the Supreme Court did not go to any of the parties in the dispute.

Judgement

“In its judgment, Suit No. J4/15/2019, delivered on March 18, 2020, the Supreme Court upheld both objections. The Supreme Court held that the writ was void as the La Traditional Council was non-existent at the time of issuance of the Writ. The Supreme Court also held that Agric Cattle Limited and Lakeside Estates Limited were non-existent parties.

“Therefore, the claim of the Plaintiff and the counterclaim of Lakeside Estates Ltd was thus annulled by the Supreme Court without a determination of the merits. La Stool could, certainly, not lose to a non-existent entity as the headline of the report suggests,” the La Stool said.

It added that, “the real or essential loser” as far as the Supreme Court judgment was concerned was ‘Agric Cattle Limited’/’Lakeside Estates’.

“This was because they were the ‘party’ who had the benefit of the Judgment of the Court of Appeal which judgment the Supreme Court annulled. Therefore, they lost the victory that they had at the Court of Appeal. In effect, the status quo is preserved — No land has been declared to any party,” the rejoinder stated.