General News of Friday, 14 September 2018

Source: Christian Gidisu

GPHA accused of developing on MIOTSO Stool Lands illegally

The Numo Awuley Kwao Royal Family claim they are the owners of the land The Numo Awuley Kwao Royal Family claim they are the owners of the land

The Numo Awuley Kwao Royal Family of Miotso in the Ningo Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region, have accused the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) of illegally developing on their lands at Miotso without their permission.

According to the family, GPHA which begun developing on the said land in January this year, claimed they had bought the said land from an estate developing company, Ability Real Estate Limited, a company who the Numo Awuley Kwao Family alleges acts on behalf of the Dawhenya Traditional Area, another community in the district.

The Numo Awuley Kwao Royal Family said GPHA failed to do the necessary background checks to know the true owners of the said land, before buying it. The said land which had been a legal contention between the Miotso Traditional Council and that of the Dawhenya Traditional Council, of which a ruling in 2017 went in the favour of the Miotso Traditional Council.

The Numo Awuley Kwao Royal Family say despite several attempts to get authorities of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority to suspend all operations on the said land has proven futile despite providing them with documented evidence indicating that the said land per a court ruling belongs to them and not the said "Ability Real Estate Limited".

A member of the Numo Awuley Kwao Family, Johnny Botchwey expressed concern at which some individuals in the Dawhenya Traditional Area who have been hiding behind the said estate developer to contracted the services of armed landgaurds to aid them sell lands belonging to the Numo Awuley Family and that of the Miotso Traditional Council, whiles the Prampram District police command looks on.

They want the Port Authority to as a matter of urgency vacate the said land and retrieve all monies paid to the said estate developer who sold the land to them, since the situation could renew possible cases of land disputes which has characterized the area for some time now.

The Numo Awuley Kwao family say they are willing to meet authorities of GPHA to resolve the issue amicably since they believe their operations in the area will be beneficial to the district and the country as a whole.

However the Numo Awuley Kwao Family have served notice they will not be intimidated by any group of persons or individuals parading themselves as estate developers, chiefs or landgaurds to forgo the issue.