Residents Decry Police Inaction

THREE YEARS after a court's judgment in a dispute over land acquired for a Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) television station at Adjanconte Hill, the order has not been executed because of the inaction of the police.

Chronicle investigations revealed that despite the judgment, some parties from nearby Boi village are using violent means to illegally dispose of the land by always carrying guns and other implements to intimidate the people who are mostly farmers.

The paper learnt that whenever the residents reported such cases to the police, the suspects were freed on the alleged instructions of the Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration, Mr. Kwasi Nkansah, and the Striking Force Commander, Mr. Joseph Kesseh.

The residents also said they had reported the actions of the Boi people to the Madina police, the Nima police as well as the Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Dr. K. K Marfo, and others but all that had been to no avail.

Chronicle learnt that in 1983 the caretaker and people of Boi Village laid claim to the Adjanconte land belonging to the chief and people of Akpormang and that of the Tetteh Olewolon family of Abladjei village.

They caused a writ of summons to be served on Daniel Addo Addoquaye and some members of Olewolon family.

Later, Nii Akpor the chief of Akpormang represented by Nii Azaria Adjei Klu joined the suit after realizing that it was not only the Olewolon family's land they were laying claim to but that of his.

Before the suit, there had been an Appeal Court judgment which the Boi people also contested but failed to proceed and therefore withdrew.

In that appeal, judgment was given in favour of Nii Klu as the rightful owner of the land, almost contiguous to the acquired area of the GBC transmission station and consequently entitled to compensation from GBC.

Some of the citizens of the area told The Chronicle that when they realized that the police were not doing enough to stop the acts of aggression from the Boi people, they went to Mr. Nkansah to seek his assistance.

According to them Mr. Nkansah advised them to go to the High Court for an order of possession before they could present their petition to the Inspector General of Police.

The citizens said that Nii Klu was able to acquire the order of possession and even went further to acquire an order of execution for police protection.

To forestall any breach of the peace, six armed policemen were tasked by the court to assist the court officials to evacuate the encroachers from the land but when all was set for the exercise, the Head of Operations of the Police Striking Force Unit was instructed to stop. It was alleged that the instruction came from Mr. Nkansah.

They said Mr. Kesseh decided that since the exercise could bring bloodshed, the police would rather arrest the leaders of the encroachers whenever they threatened the residents of the area.

Following that decision, the police arrested the leaders but again, there was an alleged phone call to the striking force commander to release the suspects, which he did.

Meanwhile, the deputy judiciary secretary, Mr. N.C.A Agbevor, has said the actions of the striking force unit amounted to contempt of court.

Mr. Kesseh denied that he was ordered not to execute the court order, saying he used his own discretion to avoid any violence.

Mr. Nkansah also said he advised Mr. Kesseh to let the law take its own course.