General News of Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Source: Daily Searchlight Newspaper

Ga chiefs chase minister for 'stealing’ and selling their lands

Information reaching the Daily Searchlight indicates that the chiefs and people of Teshie Lenshie are on the neck of Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, Deputy Minister in charge of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

He also doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso East in the Greater Accra Region.

Dr. Mustapha Ahmed is said to have encroached the land of the people of Lenshie quarters of Teshie and gone ahead to sell portions of the land without any permission from the Chiefs of the area.

The Daily Searchlight is reliably informed that the deputy minister has been selling the parcels of the land illegally to individuals and institutions through his real estate company known as Sabah Estate Development Limited.

Knowing very well that there is a caveat on the land since May 2007, the NDC MP is now beyond control is said to be on a selling spree since his government took over the leadership of this country since 2009.

Our investigations have revealed that Dr. Mustapha Ahmed acquired 78.167 acres of land from the Lenshie Quarters family of Teshie through Sabah Estate Development Limited in December, 1996 at a total consideration price of two hundred million Cedis (¢200,000,000) Dr. Ahmed made an initial payment of six million Cedis (¢6,000,000).

Interestingly, Dr. Ahmed refused to pay the remaining sum of money after the Lenshie Quarters had transferred their title to him per the land Title Certificate issued by the Land Title Registry.

After several unsuccessful demands for the payment of the outstanding balance, the Lenshie Quarters informed Dr. Mustapha Ahmed’s company of their intention to abrogate the sale agreement and also to re-enter the land on January 28, 1999.

That did not even push the managing director of Sabah Estate Development Limited to make any further payments because he already had what he needed.

On August 29, 2000 the Lenshie Quarters Family refunded the ¢6,000,000 to the Deputy Minster by way of bankers draft and re-entered the land under contention.

The Family has since sold portions of the land to individuals whilst agreeing to grant Dr. Mustapha Ahmed and his company some 2 acres of the land to cater for all his loses within the four years of the owning the land. In return, the Lenshie family was demanding the land title certificate which is still in the possession of the deputy minister of water resources, works and housing.

Interestingly, a court settlement signed by both parties on May 30, 2003 instructs the Lenshie Quarters family of Teshie to lease seven and half acres of the land to Sabah Estates Development limited with a prepared, signed and delivered indenture, a week after the agreement was signed. Dr. Mustapha Ahmed’s company was supposed to pay a poultry sum ¢100,000 in total for five out of the seven and half acres and ¢25,000,000 for the two and half remaining acres for a period of 99 years.

In return, Sabah Estate Development Limited was instructed by the court to deliver the said land Title Certificate to the Lenshie Quarters Family which was prepared in 1997.

Up till date, the NDC minister has refused to surrender the Land Title certificate even though the Lenshie Quarters family is willing to give out 10 acres for free.

As soon as his government took over office, he started selling the portions of the land and keeps back-dating the sale to 2001 and 2002. The case is now being heard in the Land’s Court of the Accra High Court.