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Court declares Odai Ntow family 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 rightful 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 were rather the rightful owners of the disputed land and had exercised ownership rights over them for many 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 and registered as Land Registry number 969/1993.
This, the plaintiffs said, was the state of affairs until the defendants (Odai Ntow family) started committing trespass on the said land in dispute.
However, according to the first and fifth defendant’s family, represented by Moses Musah, they were in possession of their lands without any challenge until 1904 when a dispute arose over the land.
The presiding judge, Mr. Justice Emmanuel Amo Yartey in his ruling said the plaintiffs 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 plaintiffs 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 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 again 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.
The Government of the Republic of Korea has presented a second consignment of equipment to support the study, maintenance and preservation of Ghana’s historic forts and castles under the Korea-Ghana ICT Climate Project.
At the handover ceremony in Accra, today, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, expressed appreciation for Korea’s continued support, including its US$4.5 million intervention towards heritage preservation, technical assistance and capacity building.
The equipment will strengthen the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board’s efforts to address the impact of climate change on Ghana’s historic heritage infrastructure.
The Ministry noted that they remain committed to working with international partners to safeguard Ghana’s priceless heritage for present and future generations.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Association of Spouses of Heads of Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations (ASOHOM) brought art, diplomacy and philanthropy together for its glamorous black-tie charity gala, centred on the urgent theme of sustainable water futures.
At the heart of the evening was ‘Woven Currents’, a thought-provoking commissioned exhibition co-curated by Fang W. Linulf of LogonART and Fadila Njoya from Gallery Sankofa, showcasing five outstanding Ghanaian artists confronting water pollution, coastal decay, ancestral memory and ecological regeneration.
Housed within a versatile multi-function hall, far from a conventional white-cube gallery, the venue underwent a dramatic creative transformation.
Drawing on her professional architectural background, curator Fang W. Linulf reimagined the standard event space into a vivid, immersive exhibition environment through bold spatial storytelling.
Monumental art installations encircled gala guests, breaking traditional viewing boundaries and forging a remarkably intimate, visceral connection between viewers and the artworks.
Guided by a powerful curatorial vision, ‘Woven Currents’ positioned art as a call to action: to honour, safeguard and collectively steward Africa’s precious shared water heritage.
Each artwork responded directly to Ghana’s pressing aquatic realities.
Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku’s towering textile installation breathed new life into discarded local second-hand ‘Oburoni Wawu’ garments, delivering a searing commentary on waste colonialism and textile-fuelled ocean contamination.
Patrick Tagoe Turkson crafted intricate assemblages from beach-salvaged flip flops and abandoned ghost fishing nets, weaving Asafo flag and Kente cloth iconography into marine debris to unite indigenous cultural wisdom with modern-day ecological crisis.
Sena Burgundy presented introspective blue-hued figurative canvases exploring inner reflection set against shifting environmental realities.
Nana Frimpong Oduro exhibited dream-like surreal photography rooted in Akan cosmology, capturing ancestral echoes and human resilience within Ghana’s coastal waters.
Evans Torngmortey Akornor built evocative threshold-themed mixed media works from fishing shore remnants, unpacking visible and unseen layers of shoreline history.
Attendees also experienced the poignant live dance performance ‘Cry of the River’ by Vivie’s Dance.
The night featured a high-energy live auction of five signature exhibition artworks alongside a raffle draw. Every penny raised went toward vital humanitarian support for vulnerable communities across Ghana.
Diplomatic delegates, collectors, artists and cultural leaders filled the room.
The curatorial team stressed that ‘Woven Currents’ was never mere gala decoration.
It delivered grounded, locally-centred artistic narratives that enriched formal policy conversations on water conservation, repurposing a diplomatic social gathering into a dynamic public platform for ecological dialogue and meaningful giving.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
