The Chief Priest of Osu, Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II, has sent caution to the leaders of Presbyterian Church of Ghana that the people of Osu will soon come after them over what he describes as 'exploitation' from the church.
He accused the church of cunningly taking portions of Osu lands that do not belong to them.
According to the Wor-Lumor, the church was given five acres of land during the colonial era, at no fee, with an agreement to admit children of Osu for free in their schools.
But the church, he stressed, has claimed more plots of lands without approval from custodians of the Osu lands.
In a bare it all interview with the People & Places team on GhanaWeb TV, the chief priest claims the Osu Presby Church, located at the heart of Osu, has not only 'stolen' more plots of their land but they now take fees from children who attend their schools.
"The missionaries also came and begged us for our lands to establish churches and schools. They have now turned round to take school fees from us. And we gave them our lands, especially the Presbyterian Church. I'm saying it for them to know. They gave us curbs of wine, two curbs of gun powder, and took just about five acres of land.
But now the five acres have been extended into almost a quarter of a mile. And our children have to pay school fees when they go to their schools, no scholarship, and when even we have a ceremony and we need their conference halls, we need to pay. We have to pay, which we are not happy about."
Wor-Lumor Nuumo Noi Sekanku Kpenuku II in the exclusive interview with GhanaWeb expressed disappointment in the Church adding that the Osu people will soon go after them.
"We want them to know, tell them, we want them to know that we will come at them very soon. Yes because if we give something to you free, you also have to give us something free. But if you take our property and you have to sip money from us, then it looks like you are the people who started the poll tax," he told GhanaWeb.
Speaking about the challenges bedeviling the Osu people, the Chief priest stated that government has forcefully claimed properties belonging to the Osu people.
He emphasized that the elders and chiefs of Osu only signed an agreement with the colonial masters not the government of Ghana, hence they are astonished to see the government claiming ownership of their lands and properties, an act he says has made the people of Osu poor.
"I would want the whole world to know that Osu is being beseeched by politicians. I don't know if it is for the primeness of our lands because most of the government establishments from the colonial era is in Osu. And I don't remember when the colonial masters handed over our properties to the Ghana government. Because all our properties that were given to the colonial masters were signed in an agreement between the chiefs, elders, and the colonial masters.
Therefore by simple logic, if the colonial masters do not want that property again and they are going, then the ownership automatically reverses to the allodial owners. But now, the government is saying they own all the Osu lands. That has made us poor."
Watch the full interview below, skip to 24th minutes for this story:
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