JUDGMENT
ATUGUBA, JSC
The sole issue arising in this appeal is who owns the allodial title to Ogbojo lands in Accra? Is it the Labadi Stool or the Anahor and Dzirase families of Ogbojo village?
In approaching this question one must bear in mind the intricacies of customary land tenure in Ghana. The need for caution in these matters is forcefully stated in holding 2 of the headnote to Bimpong v. Bawuah (1991)2 GLR 20 C.A, as follows:
“(2) In this country, land might for generations be in the occupation of persons who were not owners but who might have rights of occupation as licensees or customary tenants or under other conditions known to customary law, the reversion nevertheless being in the owner. And the owners were willing to allow such occupation so long as the occupier did not make any adverse claims to the land. Hence, the mere occupation of land for long periods was not conclusive evidence of ownership; and it was therefore essential that the specific nature and origin of the tenu…