The Ghana Armed Forces says it did nothing wrong
The Ghana Military says it did nothing wrong in pulling down a billboard with the face of President Nana Akufo-Addo on it at a land at Airport Hills, stating that they had not concluded talks with the La Traditional Council before its youth went there.
They have also questioned the circumstances under which the billboard got there.
On Thursday, January 14, 2021, there was a confrontation between some youth of La and personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces on a 250-acre land during which the soldiers pulled down a mounted billboard with the face of the president.
Speaking to GhanaWeb in a telephone interview, Col. Eric Aggrey-Quarshie, Director of Public Relations of the GAF said that while he had little to say on the matter, particularly because they are engaging with the La Traditional Council, they did nothing wrong.
“Who went to put the billboard there? Let them tell you why they want it there and let them tell you their side of things and why they would be engaging with someone and still go ahead to do things like that,” he said.
The youth from La were led by their Paramount Priest, Nuumo Yomo Obloni II, to the land following what they believed was a settled matter that the land had been released to them.
Secretary/Spokesperson of the Coalition of La Association, Jeffrey Tetteh, who was speaking on The Pulse on JoyNews, explained that they were of the notion that the land had been released to them in November 2020, after decades of government control.
“Last year, the Minister for Lands set up a tripartite committee involving the Lands Commission, the La Traditional Council, and the high command of the GAF. The final verdict was given on November 27, 2020, during which the military was represented,” he said.
He added that they noticed that some portions of the land were being developed by some Chinese developers believed to have acquired the land from the military and had gone to the land only for the military to confront them.
But, Col Aggrey-Quarshie has stated that this is nothing new and that their reasons for being there that day is something that the Command does not want to speak to because they are still in talks with the other parties involved.
"It's not a new thing. This is not the first time something like that is happening and we did nothing wrong," he said.
