Somewhere in the first quarter of 2010, I received a call from Alexnder Osei Owusu (Lexis). I was then serving as a National Service person at the Akuapem Rural Bank in Mamfe – Akuapem. Lexis was my friend in council when we both served students in leadership positions at the University of Cape Coast.   I had discussed with him whilst we were yet to graduate, that I would like to study law after my first degree. He had seen a newspaper advert which was almost expiring so he called to prompt me. He said, Nii, tomorrow is the deadline for submission, have you submitted already and my answer was a no. I therefore had to quickly get permission from the office to go and buy the University of Ghana Admission forms and apply for the Post First Degree LLB. Everything was hand-written on physical forms and submitted physically at that time. I did not have my transcript at the time and it meant, I needed to travel to Cape Coast the next day, get the transcript and some reco...

  One cannot help but notice that we are currently in an era of the booming " slay queen " business. There is also the growing trend of " side chick " and " side guy " relationships. In these trends, it is not unusual for properties to be acquired for or in the name of the “side chick”, or “side guy”. Most often when there is a fallout in these amorous relationships there is the issue of one party attempting to retrieve all properties purchased for or in the name of the other party. This is usually met with fierce resistance from the other party whom the said property was purchased for or in whose name it was purchased. The question is, will the purchaser of the said property be able to legally recover the said property from the person the property was purchased for or in whose name it was purchased.   Generally, a person who has legal title to a property is presumed to be the absolute owner of the property unless some other person can establish a bene...

The Osborns’s Concise Law Dictionary defines “arrest” as – “to deprive a person of his personal liberty by some lawful authority, for the purpose of compelling his appearance to answer a criminal charge or as a method of execution”. To put it in ordinary words, when you are arrested, it means you have been seized or held either by physical means or by being told verbally by another person usually a police officer. The reason for your arrest by the police is usually for you to be questioned and possibly sent to court to answer for a crime that you are suspected to have committed.   The Laws on arrest in Ghana are found in the 1992 Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 30, 1960 and some other statutes and case law. This article is for the ordinary reader and so I do not intend to quote too much from these laws in order not to make it too legalese and difficult to read.   This write up will however attempt to shed light on some basics on ARREST to enlighten the ...

A young lady approached me and said: Mr. Lawyer, I have been living with my partner for the past four years? He got me pregnant whiles I was an apprentice with a hairdressing saloon. After the pregnancy, he came to “see” my parents and accepted responsibility. He came with his father who presented a bottle of schnapps to my father. After I gave birth, he came to perform the naming ceremony after which he asked me to move in to live with him. I have supported him to do his business and also build his chamber and hall apartment which we live in now. He now has two shops where he sells hardware. I used to sell at one of the shops, whiles he sells in the other, but he has recently stopped me from going to the other shop. He claims I am spending his money. The Truth is, he doesn’t provide regular money at home, so I usually use some of the sales to buy foodstuff to cook for the three of us. I have discussed with him, that he should help me set up my own hair dressing saloon so I don’t ask h...

Many Ghanaians live in properties which they falsely believe is theirs, but upon their death, they leave their spouses with troubles and litigation. This short write up will examine a fictional fact situation and use it to explain what the law says about Death Intestate in relation to Family Property.   THE PROBLEM   KWADWO MINTAH died intestate in June 2019. He had built a two-room apartment in which he lived with his beautiful wife Yaa Achaa and their 3-year-old daughter, Akosua Ahuofe. The Land was a family land which other family members had also build similar apartments and living on. In fact, Yaa Achaa had helped his husband in building by contributing financially to help him put up the structure. They wanted to stop paying rent and so they decided to build to have their own peace of mind. Two years after his death, the family of Kwadwo Mintah are asking Yaa Achaa and her daughter to vacate the building because they need it for a family member who is returning fr...