Nii Annan Adzor
THE ASHAIMAN Traditional Council has called on President elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to initiate full-scale investigation into the alleged demarcation and selling of the Community 21 lands at Ashaiman, near Tema.
According to the traditional heads, Nana Akufo-Addo should make it one of his utmost priorities to go into the land grabbing matter. The land is said to belong to the Free Zones Board, but being purportedly sold out to some individuals.
The chiefs want the Nana Akufo-Addo to stop the ongoing demarcation and selling of the Community 21 lands immediately he assumes office.
The about 152 acres land forms part of the compulsorily acquired lands by the colonial government in 1952 and given to the Tema Development Corporation (TDC); but in 1972, the TDC failed to develop the lands and were therefore leased to some farmers for about 21 years.
In 1997, the Government of Ghana declared the said land a Free Zone residential enclave in accordance with Section 7(1) of the Free Zones Act, 1995 (Act 504).
Seventeen of the farmers then went to court to place an injunction to prevent the TDC from entering the land – a suit joined by the Free Zones Board as defendants through the high court to the Appeals Court. Both courts ruled in favour of the TDC.
The Free Zones Board, with the military, in 2012 demolished all structures on the land in a bid to begin its residential accommodation, disregarding several requests for portions of the land to be given out to meet some infrastructure needs of Ashaiman.
Traders who had virtually turned the area into a market, were sacked to allow the Free Zones Board to begin putting up residences for its workers.
However, the Regent of Ashaiman, Nii Anann Adzor I, revealed that the land is not being used for the purposes it was intended.
According to him, he had gathered that some top government officials and bigwigs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are demarcating and selling the lands.
He, on behalf of the Traditional Council, called on the incoming government to investigate the case and find ways to give portions of the land to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) for development.
Recently, the executives of the New Patriotic Party sent a stern warning to buyers to stay away from the aforementioned land because the incoming government will be investigating the ongoing sale of the land.
From Vincent Kubi, Ashaiman