OFOE, J.A.
On reading the record of appeal the issue we found capable of determining the sole grounds of appeal filed and argued by the appellant, which is that the judgment is against the weight of evidence, is whether the land claimed by the plaintiff at the trial High Court which judgment is before us on appeal, has earlier been litigated upon between the parties or their privies and a definite pronouncement made on it by a court of competent jurisdiction. In other words is the principle of res judicata applicable in respect of this land dispute between the parties? The trial High judge answered in the affirmative. The appellant contended otherwise challenging this conclusion of the trial judge.
It is an undisputed legal position that the preliminary effect of a successful plea of res judicata is to dismiss the suit before the court since the plea will not permit a matter that had been tried by a court of competent jurisdiction between the same parties or their privies and a decisio…