A Liberian business tycoon, Adam S. Sesay, has lamented the slow pace at which a land dispute and house case between him and a woman, Zoe Kla-Williams, has been languishing at the Temple of Justice without justice being dispensed.
Sesay, Founder/CEO of Sesay Brothers Incorporated (SBI) and a son of Bong County, who continues to invest in the cocoa industry, stated that for years now he has been denied justice in a land he purchased, and to his astonishment Zoe Kla-Williams, without any legal basis, is said to be claiming ownership of the parcel of land, which is situated in Congo Town, Monrovia.
Narrating his story in an exclusive interview with the Hot Pepper, he recounted, “On the 10th of June 2009, l bought a parcel of land from Mr. William Francis Early, the executor for the property of the late Mr. John M. Early. This parcel of land is in Congo Town, commencing at the south-western corner of the Johnson’s property, close to the beach.”
According to him, the transaction was initiated by the late Cllr. Francis Garlawulo, who was then the lawyer for William Francis Early.
“Few months later, I was issued a deed, which was probated by the Monthly and Probate Court of Montserrado County, and subsequently sent to the Archives (CNDRA). I began constructing a duplex on the land, valued at about US$100,000. Beside the blocks, most of the house materials were imported from Europe,” he explained.
He lamented that, while undertaking the construction, he did not see any second claimant for the property, from 2009 to 2012.
“While on a business trip to Liberia in 2013, a lady called Zoe Kla-Williams claimed that about one (1) acre of her late Grandmother’s property was encroached on. She claimed that part of my house occupied a piece of her land, which is yet to be authenticated through an investigative survey,” the businessman noted.
“This lady (Zoe Kia-Williams) instituted a lawsuit against me and others who weren’t named in her lawsuit, with the caption, “Mr. Adam Sesay and others VS Zoe Kia-Williams,” he averred.
He pointed that Zoe KIa-Williams claimed that she inherited the property from her late grandmother, Janet Buckle, who bought the property from John Smith.
“KIa-Williams alleges that Mr. John Smith sold 2.5 acres to her grandmother Janet Buckle. Although Mr. Smith’s deed indicates that his property is parallel to the John Early’s property, my Grantors. I am of the conviction that only a legal survey can justify Zoe KIa-Williams’s claim that indeed part of her property has been encroached upon,” he asserted.
According to him, he was in the Netherlands when Zoe KIa-Williams connived with some people from the court and alleged that he (Sesay) was served a writ and that he allegedly refused to appear before the court, and therefore the court rendered a default judgment in her favour.
“The decision by the court to give my property to Zoe KIa-Williams, who was only claiming a portion of my land in the first place, is incomprehensible, putting Zoe KIa-Williams in possession of my house, which I built in four years’ time without any investigative survey. I believe this is not right,” he lamented.
He further explained that, when Zoe Kla-Williams alleged that she issued a writ against him, he contacted the Garlawulo law firm. “The writ, which was said to have been issued against me reached neither me nor my counsels, but became a ground to request the Civil Law Court for default judgment, which was granted by the then Judge, His Honor Emery Paye, who ruled in favour of Zoe KIa-Williams and subsequently rescinded on our motion to dismiss, but her possession of my property was overturned and enforced by the late Johannes Z Zlahn, allowing her possessory right in the face of the fact that I was out of the country and was never served or brought under the jurisdiction of the court,” he said.
He said upon his return from Europe, the Sesay, Johnson & Associates Law Chambers, as his additional counsels, then filed with the Supreme Court a petition for Writ of Prohibition to restrain Judge Paye’s decision and to fully investigate the matter with the showing of his absence, evidenced by his passport showing his departure date from Liberia and salary (pay) slips indicating the period he worked and the money earned while working in the Netherlands, which initially convinced the judge’s decision to rescind and place him in possession.
He revealed, “The judge told Zoe Kia-Williams to serve me another writ if she is interested in pursuing the case so that the case can be heard on the merit, but Zoe Kia-Williams ran to the Justice in Chamber and told the Justice that he (Adam A. Sesay) shouldn’t be in possession of his property, because she wasn’t aware of the cancellation of the default judgment that was done in her favour. She was not invited to the court.”
He disclosed that the compliant by Zoe Kla-Williams before the Supreme Court is void of any formal hearing, while Zoe Kla-Williams has been renting his property to tenants and collecting rent up to present, thereby causing damage to his property.
“I therefore call on the authority to please look into this matter urgently. Let this claim your urgent attention. Enough is enough. I have exercised restraint (patience) for a very long time. Seeing my property being damaged is frustrating and unbearable,” Sesay craved the Supreme Court to come out with final judgment wherein an investigating survey of the parcel of land will be rendered by the High Court.
Effort to contact Zoe Kla-Williams proved fruitless, as the Hot Pepper was told that Kla-Williams is in the United States.