Victim calls for investigation into Adjiriganor demolition

 The owner of the 10 houses demol­ished at Adjirig­anor, in Accra, has called on law en­forcement agencies to investigate and bring culprits the “unlawful” exercise to book.

According to Mr George Oti Bonsu, the persons who ordered theknocking downof the struc­tures, worth over GH¢60 million, abused political powers and al­legedly used uniformed police and military men to achieve their aim.

Addressing a press conference at the site on Monday, his spokes­person, Benjamin Danso, said searches conducted at the Adenta Circuit Court and Lands Commis­sion, showed that the demolition was not sanctioned by law.

He said Mr Bonsu and his as­sociates would not give up on their pursuit for justice, adding that they would use all legal means to ensure that culprits were apprehended.

The buildings were allegedly demolished two weeks ago, amidst force and assault on persons on site in the presence of persons suspected to be police and military personnel.

Mr Danso accused Hajia Aisha, a party in a litigation over the land, for being the brain behind the demolition, with support from a Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation, Abu Ramadan.

He said the two persons had claimed that the land belonged to their sister, the second Lady, Samira Bawumia, and that their father had plans of building a family house on the contested land.

Mr Danso said, Mr Bonsu acquired the land in 1992 from the Anorkwei and Tuaka Families of Teshie, but when the Akwraboye­Doku Family obtained a Supreme Court Judgment, Mr Bonsu com­pensated them.

He said amidst litigations over the land – one initiated by Winchester Empire at Tema High Court and another by a different party at the Adenta High Court, Hajia Aisha filed a case at the Adenta Circuit Court and subse­quently applied for an injunction to prevent Mr Bonsu from processing with his construction.

He said Mr Bonsu’s lawyer notified the Adenta Circuit Court that the ownership of the same land was in dispute in a superior high court, followed by a Tema High Court ruling that gave Mr Bonsu permission to proceed with construction, because a lower court (Adenta) could not vary that decision.

Subsequently, he said, the case on the same land at the Accra High Court against Mr Bonsu was dismissed and all parties were advised to join the case at Tema High Court, but Hajia secured a judgment in her favor at the Adenta Circuit Court.

He said despite stay of execu­tion filed, an appeal against Hajia’s judgment and intervention by former President John Kufour the buildings were demolished.

Attempts by the Ghanaian Times to get the side of Mr Rama­dan were unsuccessful as tele­phone calls made to him were not answered or returned, neither did he respond to texts and whatsApp messages sent to him.

Meanwhile a statement issued by the Second Lady, Mrs Bawumia, sighted by the newspa­per, has denied her involvement in the demolition of the houses.

 BY JONATHAN DONKOR