Achimota School threatens Supreme Court action over land litigation
The board of Achimota School and the Old Achimota School Students’ Association have threatened to seek redress at the Supreme Court in order to overturn a recent
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Appeal Court’s ruling that the school’s action to prevent the Osu Stool from taking over some 172 acres of the school’s land was an illegality.
The board and association will also ask the Supreme Court to reinstate the interlocutory injunction placed on the Osu Stool by the High Court in 2016.
This was announced by the President of the Association, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, at a press conference in Accra last Friday.
School’s arguments
He said the decision to go to the Supreme Court followed the Court of Appeal’s failure to consider the school’s arguments on the issue of capacity in its judgement on the issue last week.
“The court did not state its own view on the issue beyond referring to the Osu Stool’s challenge and stating the repeal of CAP 114,” he said at the press conference.
Prof. Aryeetey said the court was silent on the school’s arguments that a repeal did not invalidate a concluded and closed matter such as the establishment of the board and that, the law that repealed CAP 114 continued the existence of the board and provided for the establishment of new boards for other public schools.
He said the Education Act 778 did not dissolve the board and that the current Education Bill, 2015 provided for establishment of even more boards to manage public schools that did not have such boards.
Preliminary view
“Our preliminary view is that the Court of Appeal erred, gravely, in that regard,” he added.
Prof. Aryeetey said the court’s decision that the school was aware of the Osu Stool’s action against the Lands Commission leading to the 2011 judgement was also not supported by the evidence provided and the Court of Appeal failed to consider the school’s arguments regarding when the school became aware.
“We also disagree with the court’s position that the school should have sought permission of the parties in the 2010 action and joined it to assert the school’s rights to the 172.78 acres,” he said.
A 172-acre land is at the centre of the legal battle between the school and the Osu Stool, who in 2011 obtained judgement against the Lands Commission to remain in possession of the land.
The Achimota School took the matter to court and in 2016 the High Court placed an interlocutory injunction on the Osu Stool.