Four people files writ against AMA over Kinbu School land

Accra, July 6, GNA - Four people on Tuesday filed a writ at an Accra High Court to restrain Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Lands Commission and three others from developing a land near Kinbu Senior High School. They are seeking a declaration that Lands Commission had no authority to allocate public lands acquired for specific purposes, to private persons for their private benefit.

They are also seeking a declaration that AMA acted in breach of faith by removing traders and members of the Ghana Private Roads and Transport Union (GPRTU) from the said land to facilitate the construction of the project being undertaken on the land instead of handing it back to authorities of the school.

The plaintiffs in the writ filed on their behalf by Mr Bright Akwetey of Akwetey and Associates are also seeking perpetual injunction to restrain the defendants' agents, privies, assigns, workers or others from interfering with the land in any way.

They also sought an order of recovery of possession and general damages for trespass.

The plaintiffs are Alhaji Ali Braimah, a businessman; representative of Tudu Community and member of Board of Governors of the school, Nii Tetteh Osu Nortey I, Atofotse of the Mankralo Stool of Osu, Nana Ahwireng Okanta-Obeng, Chairman of the Parents Teacher-Association (PTA) of the school and Mr Emmanuel Adotey Hoffman, President of the Old Students Association of the school. The other defendants are Accra City Management Company Limited, Dream Reality Company Limited both private limited liability companies and the Contractor on site. In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs averred that by a Certificate of Title number 432 dated March 16, 1894, Government of Gold Coast acquired 8.76 acres of Osu Stool lands for "Government Services" in accordance with the Public Lands Ordinance of 1876 and established the Rowe Road Middle Boys School on the land. They said portion of the land in dispute was now occupied by Novotel Hotel, and the authorities used the land without any interference from any quarters until 1958 when Government of Ghana allocated portion of the land to the management of Ambassador Hotel, a public hotel for its hospitality activities.

The plaintiffs said the allocation to management of Ambassador Hotel reduced the size of the land available to the school; however the Ministry of Education protested against the allocation and wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Lands on February 17, 1958. They said contrary to the law under which the land was acquired, the Land Commission by lease dated November 12, 2001, unlawfully allocated portion of the land to the Management of Novotel Hotel, a private limited liability company, for its private benefit. The plaintiffs said in November 1999, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive approached the school authorities and indicated to them that for security reasons, it had to demolish their workshop to prevent criminals from operating there since Queen Elizabeth II was to visit Ghana with the promise that AMA would build a new one for them. They contended that after failing to build the workshop, the next Metropolitan Chief Executive approached the authorities again in 2005 to settle the GPRTU and some traders on the land temporarily pending completion of the Pedestrian Mall at Odawna near Kwame Nkrumah Circle. The plaintiffs said the school obliged contending that since November 1999, the school had been denied any space for its physical activities. They averred that on September 23, 2009, the PTA petitioned President John Evans Atta Mills about a project that had been advertised in the Thursday, September 17, 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic for the construction of a shopping mall and offices for the AMA on the land. The plaintiffs said President Mills did not reply the petition but the school authorities realised that on November 11, 2009 the Office of the President had written to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to take action on the allocation of the land to the management of Accra City Management Company.

They said unknown to the school authorities, Lands Commission had contrary to law, by a lease dated February 22, 2001 allocated the land to Accra City Management Company for the construction of a hotel for its private benefit. The plaintiffs said by late May this year, AMA forcibly removed the GPRTU and traders from the land and instead of handing over the land to the school, the Contractor on site had begun excavatory works on the land for the execution of the project advertised in the Daily Graphic. They contended that a search at the Lands Commission revealed that management of Accra City Management Company had assigned the land to management of Dream Reality Company for the project by an assignment dated July 23, 2008. The plaintiffs said by the actions of the defendants they had breached the faith and sections of the 1992 Constitution and should be restrained by the court.