Tension looms at Wa over land compensation cash

Tension is looming large at Sokpayiri a suburb of Wa, the Upper West Regional capital over what has been described an acrimonious feud over land compensation for the people and elders of the area.

Sources have it that the compensation was as a result of land acquired by the government for the construction of a school, the Wa Technical Institute.

The land originally belonged to four sets of families before the government acquisition.

Last year the families took the matter to court and the Ghana Education Service (GES) who were directly involved in the matter were summoned before the court which eventually led to the garnishing of accounts of the Wa Technical Institute.

Sources told mynewsgh.com that the value placed on the land is said to have hinged around Eight Hundred Thousand Ghana cedis( GH¢800,000.00).

Matters came to a head as a result; the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council stepped in to ask of out of court settlement and promised to ensure that the compensation due the families would be paid.

This happened last year and both parties adhered to all deliberations.

Now that compensation has been paid to the affected families trouble is brewing and there is mutual suspicion among the various families with speculations that the amount given to the families has been under declared since some of the families claimed that the money is more than the eight hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GH¢800,000.00) claiming that the money is in the region of Five Million Ghana cedis (GH¢5,000,000.00)and that half of the said amount has been stashed away from the families by some key members who happened to be signatories to the compensation plan.

The situation got out of hand on Thursday 25th of May 2017 resulting in a sporadic shooting incident at Sokpayiri until the Upper West Regional police command dispatched some men for reinforcement to calm the situation.

There have not been any arrest so far and nobody has been identified in the shooting incident. The feuding families have also refused to talk especially the media. As at press time police presence is very visible in the area.