NPP gurus fight Akufo-Addo’s Chinese investors over Ashaiman land

A piece of land situated in the Ashaiman Municipality has become the center of controversy as some powerful men in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) are reported to have teamed up and plotted to take away the said property which is in the process of being leased out to some private Chinese investors.

The NPP bigwigs, kasapafmonline.com understands, want to execute the project the Chinese investors had designed with the assistance of the technical staff of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly and are therefore scheming their way through the assistance of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), the custodians of the land property.

The said land is located by the right side of the Motorway from Tema to Accra and stretches from the Ashaiman overhead to the Adjei Kojo Junction. TDC is charging GH?1,892,484.00 as management fee and an annual ground rent of GH?19,158.48 for the 19.47 acres of land.

A swampy area covering about 50.53 acres has been added to the 19.47 acres to make it 70 with the land value expected to further go up.

The investors, Foshan Chamber of Commerce whose local representatives are Joemat Real Estate, had received the blessings of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to construct an International Car Terminal and other facilities.

The President sealed the deal when he, together with some African leaders, in 2018 visited China upon the invitation of the Chinese President, and took some time off his busy schedule to inspect the facilities of the Foshan Chamber of Commerce which had then expressed interest in investing in Ghana.

This was after Chinese investors had in a letter dated February 24, 2018, written to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to express interest to partner with the Assembly to undertake the Central Business District Market redevelopment project.

The letter was duly acknowledged by the Assembly in a letter dated February 28, 2018. The Assembly stated inter alia that it “has no objection to the initiative as it will enhance trading activities in the municipality”.

A team of officials from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Albert Boakye Okyere was then dispatched to China to also inspect the facilities of the investors to ascertain their preparedness for the project.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the parties after the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly got convinced that the Chinese investors were ready for the project. The event which took place in China was witnessed by Ghana’s deputy Ambassador to China, Dr. Charles Dwamena in China.

This was followed by the issuance of a provisional right of entry to the said land property by the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to Foshan Chamber of Commerce through their local representative, Joemat Real Estate.

A letter dated June 25, 2018, signed by the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Albert Boakye Okyere, and sighted by kasapafmonline.com in part read “In pursuance to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly and the Foshan Chamber of Commerce, China with its local representative, Joemat Real Estate Development Limited for the construction of an International Car Terminal and other facilities at Ashaiman; the Assembly by this letter wishes to grant you a provisional right of entry on the seventy acres of land located by the right side of the Motorway from Tema to Accra which stretches from the Ashaiman overhead to the Adjei Kojo junction while we liaise with Tema Development Corporation for the regularization of the said land in fulfillment of all due processes therein. This is to enable you start the preparatory works leading to the official commencement of the actual project”.

To demonstrate their commitment to undertake the project, an amount of GH?500,000.00 raised by the Chinese investors was paid to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly. The said amount was in turn paid into the accounts of the TDC on August 30, 2018, with the Corporation acknowledging receipt of the payment.

This culminated in the issuance of an authorization letter by the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to Foshan Chamber of Commerce through their local representatives, Joemat Real Estate Development Limited in a letter dated October 10, 2018.

“Following the successful signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly and Foshan Chamber of Commerce China through their Ghanaian representatives Joemat Real Estate Development Limited and subsequent part payment for the Land Reserved for the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, we are glad to inform you that you are given the right of entry to the said land to start preparatory work for the project”, letter signed by the MCE in part read.

A cheque of GH?300,000.00 issued by the Chinese investors was paid directly into the Accounts of the TDC on January 17, 2019, but the Corporation, kasapafmonline.com understands, has since rejected the amount owing to an embargo it has placed on the project.

Some persons familiar with the project at the TDC say the embargo had to do with an expression of interest by the NPP apparatchiks.

Kasapafmonline.com is reliably informed that happenings over the said project is at the blind side of the President, with the NPP bigwigs, said to have even authorized the TDC to refund the GH?500,000.00 paid into its accounts as part payment of the management fee of the said land property to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly.