A Land Court in Accra has dismissed a preliminary legal objection raised by the Lands Commission in the case in which some claimants listed to be paid compensation in the Volta Basin Flooded Area are jointly suing the government, demanding a release of the rest of the packages.

The court presided over by Justice Anthony Oppong described as ‘misconceived’ the argument by the Lands Commission which has been sued alongside the Attorney General by the claimants that the court did not have jurisdiction to pursue the case.

The court ruled on Tuesday that Article 280 of the 1992 Constitution which Lands Commission held onto in its preliminary objection “does not oust the jurisdiction of this court.”

“In effect the preliminary legal objection is misconceived but there will be no order as to cost not so much that the plaintiffs are not entitled to cost but the court thinks that plaintiffs will be understanding not to press for cost out of sympathy for the government,” Justice Oppong ruled.

He said “It must be mentioned that the High Court has general unlimited jurisdiction to deal with all matters be it civil or criminal unless that particular jurisdiction is taken away by the 1992 Constitution or by an Act of Parliament,” adding “Anytime a person raises objection to the High Court in dealing with a particular matter, that person must quickly point to a provision in the 1992 Constitution or an Act of Parliament that clearly takes away that jurisdiction.”

Leading Claimants

The claimants include chiefs and people from Krachi, Pai, Tapa, Afram Plains, Nkomi-Sene, Makango, Apaaso and their action cites the Attorney General and the Lands Commission as defendants.

They are suing because the government since 2013 has allegedly abrogated the payment schedule contract it had with the claimants and as a result, no payment has been made since 2013.

Claimants Reliefs

The plaintiffs want a declaration that the negotiated settlement concluded in 2008 between them and the government under E.I. 98 of 1974 as amended by E.I. 67 of 1975 in pursuance of certain tranches of compensation payment which were made by the government to them was still valid and legally binding.

Lands Commission’s Fight

The Lands Commission had raised preliminary legal objection on grounds of want of jurisdiction of the court to entertain the case and cited CI 79 with regards to adverse findings made against them by a commission of enquiry and added that the findings of the commission of enquiry ‘assumed’ the judgement of the High Court.

The commission insisted that those the adverse findings were made against should have gone to the Court of Appeal to seek redress instead of the High Court.