Wailing at Adenta, As 25 Houses Pulls Down

By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba

Residents of Fafraha in the Adentan Municipality are crying foul over demolition of their houses, accusing the suppose land owner for being inhuman.

Twenty- five houses earmarked for demolition in the area on Friday were razed to the ground on the basis that the houses were sited without permits from the real land owners.

The exercises which was carried in the presence of one Madam Hajia, a sister to the land owner, Nii Laryea of Katanmanso   was said to have obtained a Court orders from the Accra Circuit Court dated January 13, 2013 to carry the demolishing and take possessing.

Without any warning  notice to the  residents , the suppose land owner  at about 5:30 am proceeded  with four  bulldozers and  30 policemen  and pulled down all houses that was sited  in the land.

According to Madam Hajia, the residents have been warned on several times to look for alternative places of settlement, but they refused to relocate from the land with the excuse that they bought the plots from the Chief of Fafraha.

She said  several attempt to evict the residents through the court orders  for two years ago proved futile following counterclaims and litigation over the land,

But the residents, who could only watch their houses and their belongings destroyed, said the action was politically motivated.

The co-chairman of the residents Association, Mr. Eric Effah said they have been in court and also being negotiating with the land owner over the possible way of solving the matter as to if they have to pay, and not the demolition of their houses.

He said it came as a surprise when the woman without any prior notice came to the site and demolished houses that have been built over ten years with the appropriate documentation.

According to him, they were not giving any notice of court orders since they knew the matter was still pending in court and wonder how the court could have gave a final order on the matter without their lawyer been aware.

The resident Association Chairman said they were even more distraught that the land owner side-stepped an agreed meeting with residents before embarking on the demolition.

He therefore appealed to president, John Mahama, the Municipal Chief Executive of Adentan Municipal Assembly, Madam Nubyl Kakra Vanlare to intervene in the matter.

Some of the residents also appealed to the National Disaster Managemnt Organization (NADMO) and other philanthropic organizations to come to their aid and provide them with temporal shelters.

One resident who gave his name as Abban said the action surprised many of them as there was supposed to be a meeting over the issues on the weekend.

He said  the demolishing  exercises was unnecessary after winning the case from court, adding  the matter could have been solve through amicable negotiation so that those who have already built and stay for years could pay for the plots they occupied.

Land issues in Accra have become national issues and there are thousands of legal tussles in courts and at the traditional authorities.

Lives have been lost and properties destroyed in what has become an annual ritual after parties won cases in court.