Soldiers Fight Over Bungalows

THREATS by officials of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to use force to eject about 200 people living in bungalows belonging to the defunct Kumasi Shoe Factory have been met with stiff opposition, with the tenants stressing that they will not be thrown out like rubbish.

The GAF, which took over the facility a few months ago to revamp the shoe factory, is reported to have ordered tenants to vacate the area by October 8, 2011 or risk being driven out through military force.

But the tenants, mainly bankers, engineers, food and crop researchers, civil servants and VAT officials who have lived there since the establishment of the factory during the first republic, described the military’s action as unfortunate.

They said it was inappropriate for the officials of the GAF to resort to the use of force in evicting them, considering the years they had lived there.

According to them, they had been living in constant fear since the military took over the operations of the factory under a partnership deal with a Czech Company, Knights.

This compelled a good number of them to relocate elsewhere as they were unsure of their safety and security.

The tenants therefore made a passionate appeal to President John Atta Mills to intervene and ensure its amicable settlement in the interest of peace and national security.

One of the tenants who spoke to DAILY GUIDE on anonymity said military men, numbering about 40, led by one Lawrence and a white man, had been harassing them on a daily basis.

The residents described as unfair the short notice given to them by a holding company, Defence Industries Holding Company Limited (DIHOC) which asked them to relocate before the supposed October 8, deadline.

When DAILY GUIDE spoke to the president of the 21 Sitting Tenants Association, Lawrence B. Tabase, a former minister of state under the third republic, he alleged that the military and the Czech firm had no right to evict, harass or evict them from the properties.

He said the properties were under divestiture and added that the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) divested the company in 2004 to the Czech firm for UD$1.2 million but was compelled to take legal action against the investor and eventually repossessed the property in 2008.

According to Mr. Tabase, although the Czech firm won the bid in 2004, the conditions set foe them were never met but it started collecting rents in dollars from tenants, adding that he protested against it on behalf of other tenants.

He said he protested against the manner in which the firm won the bid, alleging that it might have been based on political considerations.

“We petitioned the then President Kufour-led NPP government, since there were no forensic audit and the compliance of the procurement law prior to the divestiture,” he said.

According to Mr. Tabase, the tenants also challenged the manner in which the DIC divested the core and non-core assets of the company to the Czechs.

Following the challenge, the DIC took the Czech firm to court and repossessed the factory on behalf of the government of Ghana for breach of the terms.

He hinted that they were never aware that the military, in partnership with the Czechs, had again bid for the core and non-core assets of the factory.

“I therefore find it extremely difficult to understand why the military are always on our heels to evict us,” he stated.

According to him, they had maintained and continued to maintain the properties since 1995 without any contribution from anywhere.