Borteyman Land Dispute: Family asks court to imprison president’s bodyguard, 2 others

The Ashale Botwe Family have filed a suit before the High Court in Accra (Land Division 8) asking the court to imprison Captain Edmund Kojo Koda and two others for contempt of court.

The family, being represented by Nii Afutu Kotey Gbomase II, initiated the instant action against Captain Koda, Eugene Sowah Odamtey and Hares Muda for allegedly bringing the administra­tion of justice into disrepute in an ongoing land litigation case before the court.

It is the case of Nii Gbomase II, the applicant that in the year 2000, the High Court, Accra, delivered a judgement in a land dispute in favour of Eugene Sowah and others-parte motion filed on Friday, July 26, 2024, contends that the respondents needed to follow legal processes to before they took possession of the land.

The land in question is situated at Borteyman, a suburb of Accra.

The applicant said that Captain Koda, Sowah and Muda ought to have obtained a signed writ of pos­session and order of possession, paste the notice of the order before they move into execution.

However, the applicant is claiming that the respondents failed to follow the laid down legal procedure and forcibly moved onto the land seeking to take possession without any court order.

The facts according to Nii Gbomase II are that on January 17, 2024, Odamtey filed an application for leave to issue writ of posses­sion to recover possession of the disputed land in execution of the judgment of the court differently constituted and which was affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The applicant said he filed an affidavit in opposition on June 26, 2024, to Odamtey’s application for leave to issue writ of possession.

He said the court granted Odamtey’s application for leave to issue writ of possession.

That being aggrieved, Nii Gbo­mase said he caused to be filed a notice of appeal seeking to set aside the ruling of the court.

He said on the back of the appeal, he proceeded to file an application for stay of execution on July 12, 2024, and served it on Odamtey through his counsel.

Nii Gbomase II alleged that even before the issuance of the writ of pension, Odamtey, aided by Captain Koda and Muda had gone onto the disputed land to allegedly take possession of the disputed land.

He said despite the service of the application for stay of execution having been brought to the notice of the re­spondents, they are still on the land forcibly trying to take possession of the land.

The appli­cant said the conduct of the respondents was a complete disregard of the sanctity of the judicial process.

“That I am advised by counsel and verily believe same to be true that the conduct of the respon­dents is not only wilful but it also constitutes an unlawful interference with the administration of justice and undermines the authority of the court,” the application said.

It said, “that the respondents’ wrongful conduct is tantamount to contempt of court and warrants imposition of such appropriate punitive sanction, to serve as a deterrent to others who may dare threat the same path as the respon­dents.”