Soldiers demolish unauthorised structures at Accra Legion Village

Accra, May 9, GNA - Military personnel from Burma Camp in Accra on Tuesday morning demolished unauthorised structures at the Legion Village on the Liberation Road near Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra and evicted the squatters.

More than 100 squatters, who either operated private businesses on the land or used it as a place of abode, were affected.

When a team of journalists from the Ghana News Agency visited the site, they saw the affected persons busily packing their property from the land belonging to the Ministry of Defence, which they had occupied for more than 20 years.

The Public Relations Officer of Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG), who gave his name only as Wing Commander Abrokwah (rtd), told the The land was formerly occupied by Ex-Servicemen, who had returned from World War II with various degrees of injuries and had to stay nearby to enable them to receive treatment at the 37th Military Hospital.

Mr Osei Kwame, a squatter, told the GNA that he settled on the land after the Ex-Servicemen occupying the place were re-located at the Amasaman Legion Village.

He said the squatters were formerly paying 10,000 cedis a month to VAG for occupying a kiosk at the site, and this was revised to 22,000 cedis.

"We are all Ghanaians and we should have been given more time to move because we do not have anywhere to go now," he said.