An elderly man has accused an official of the La Nkwatanang Municipal Assembly (LaNMA), in Accra, of defrauding him in an attempt to have some containers erected on the frontage of his shops near the Madina market to be removed by the Assembly.
Narrating the incident to the DAILY GUIDE, Alhaji Mahama Gyindo said in October last year, he lodged a complaint to the Assembly after three containers were planted in front of his two storey buildings near the Madina market, opposite the defunct First Allied Savings and Loans office.
After several attempts to speak to an official at the Assembly, he finally succeeded in speaking to one Mr. Ababio, Site Engineer at the Assembly, who asked some officers at the Assembly to assess the situation and report back to him.
After inspection, Alhaji Mahama alleged Mr. Ababio asked him to pay some amount of money to the officers to facilitate the movement of the containers from the frontage of his shops.
According to the complainant, an officer called Mr. Atsu, the head of the task force team who claimed to have been sent by Mr. Ababio, demanded GH¢700.00 from him on the pretext of using GH¢200.00 to write inscriptions on the containers (REMOVE by a certain date) and use the rest of the money to hire a truck and support the team that will be assigned the task.
He stated that the said Mr. Atsu failed to provide a receipt for the money paid, though he agreed to provide one since October last year, even though the containers are still at the place.
Alhaji Mahama stated that apart from the containers discouraging people from renting that side of his building, it also attracts miscreants in the area who do not only use that portion of the place as a hideout to perpetuate their nefarious activities, but steal his belongings as well.
Mr. Ababio, who was contacted by the DAILY GUIDE on Tuesday, September 20, denied asking any of his officers to take money from the complainant though he has had conversations with the complainant.
Mr. Odoom, Information Officer for the Assembly, when contacted, asked the complainant to write officially to the Assembly for a committee responsible for addressing such issues to deal with it while he makes effort to visit the complainant’s shops to assess the situation.
Jennifer Dede Adjabeng, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, was unavailable when attempt was made to discuss the issue with her.
Frank, Secretary to the Municipal Chief Executive said “since Mr. Ababio has denied taking any money from the complainant, it should end there. You should go and look for the person who took the money and not attach the Assembly to it. The MCE has a lot of issues to deal with and this is not one of them, Go and deal with it as these things happen all the time. The MCE may not even listen to that.”
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah