Carve out our homes from Free Zones property – 500 landlords of Hweriso plead

Members of the Landlords Association of Hweriso in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region have pleaded with the government and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to take out a portion of land housing property belonging to members of the association that has been allocated to the Ghana Free Zones Authority.

The landlords, numbering over 500, are facing eviction and demolition of their structures located on the Boankra Inland Port Project land belonging to the Ghana Free Zones Authority.

Speaking at a press conference held in Kumasi on Monday, 23 November 2020, the association noted that over 500 of its members have completed their houses.

Secretary to the Association, Emmanuel Owusu, explained that the landlords “acquired our lands from the stool lands from 2018 to 2020 and that the total landlords in this area numbers up to 1,000.

“As of today, the 23 of November 2020, about 500 of us have fully completed all our buildings and are actually living here with the rest at various levels of completion.

“In 2012, we heard in the grapevine that the land had been acquired and had been allocated to the Free Zones Authority, something we had to follow up because it was very worrying,” he said.

He continued: “We followed up to the Ejisu Lands Authority and they confirmed to us that this land has not been allocated to the Free Zones Authority”.

“We further followed up to the main office at Adum, where they also confirmed same for us that the lands had not been allocated to the Free Zones. So, we came back and then continued with our development but years down the line in 2016, we heard an announcement that was broadcast by the Omanhene of Ejisu.”

According to the association, the Omanhene of Ejisu indicated in his broadcast that every “form of development on this land should cease because the land had then been allocated to the Free Zones Authority. And a follow-up to the Ejisu Authority confirmed same.”

The association continued that although they have written a petition to the Manhyia Palace over the matter, they are yet to receive a response from the seat of the Asante monarch.

However, “the letter to the Free Zones was replied and the reply indicated that this land had been allocated to the Free Zones Authority and as such, a lease has been done on this land or on this stretch of land to the Free Zones Authority.”

The landlords pleaded with the government and the Free Zones Authority to “remove and take out this stretch of land, which includes over 500 houses” from their project.

They further pleaded “with Manhyia to take out this stretch of lands forms the lands that had been allocated to the Free Zones.”

The association added: “We do not have any ulterior motive at the end but we know that they can take it out of the portion, but if they do not, then it means they just want to render us hopeless.”