“…Don’t ever come here again, else…”

FORMER President Jerry John Rawlings may be enjoying huge immunities as chairman of defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). He might also, as a constitutional ex-President, be enjoying enviable privileges.

As a tenant, however, he cannot be entirely immune from the hazards and vagaries of landlord-tenant relationship in Mr. Kufuor’s HIPC Ghana.

The Chronicle investigations over the weekend revealed that after the ex-President had negotiated and paid for six plots of land measuring 1.36 acres or 0.56 hectares at the cost of ?36 million, he has literally been declared a persona non grata in the area the land was purchased.

The land, purchased from the Kronti Adonten family of Akwamufie, Akosombo in the Eastern Region, “is bounded on the North by lessor’s land measuring 200 feet more or less on the South by the Volta (Kpong) and measuring 200 feet more or less on the East by stream/ lessor’s land measuring 298.2 feet more or less on the West by the lessor’s land measuring 300 feet more or less.”

The Chronicle learnt that on October 9, this year, Nana Ansah Prem III, the landlord of Mr. Rawlings, by a payment order Number 525649-0009015960504 through the Tetteh Quarshie Circle branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank, transferred the ?36 million back into the account of the ex-President. Mr. Rawlings had earlier paid for the land on March 30, last year, in the name of Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman, his wife.

In a notice for an order of no entry dated October 9, 2003, fired by the Kronti Adontehene, Akwamufie and chief of Kyease Akosombo, Nana Ansah Prem III, to His Excellency, Flt. Jerry John Rawlings, the Kronti Adonte family resolved among other things that “all privileges, assessment appurtenances whatsoever granted you on the said land have been withdrawn with immediate effect——if there is anything you want to know don’t hesitate to contact us.”

When The Chronicle contacted Nana Ansah Prem to explain why he has proscribed Ghana’s three times head of state from entering land he lawfully purchased and for which the necessary documentations are being processed, he fumed; “Rawlings has done virtually nothing for the Akwamu land during his 20 years reign, he has never visited the area, let alone paid a courtesy call on me when he was in office and now out of office.

“Ah, what I kept hearing over the years was the children shouting and disturbing the environment with news of Mr. Rawlings’s entry into the town,” he said.

According to him, a weightier reason for retrieving the plots from the ex-President was the constant pressure he had been receiving from his family members who disagree with him over the sale of the land to Rawlings on the basis that he, as head of state, had done nothing for the area and therefore there was no sense in giving him the plots at the cost of ?6 million each.

Nana pointed out that their decision to retake the land was also influenced by rumours that the initial purpose for which the land was acquired had been changed.

“He previously told us that he was going to use the plots for a residential purpose, but later we heard that he would be using the land for a park and the type of park is not known to us,” he told The Chronicle.

He said since he heard the rumours, he has not met Mr. Rawlings for him to personally explain what really the land would be used for.

However, he said, “I want it to go on a record that I don’t want my land to be used to serve political ends. To have peace with my family, the only alternative is to retrieve the land from him for peace to prevail.”

When quizzed on how the ex-President got the land when he had never met Mr. Rawlings face to face, Nana quipped, “Mr. Rawlings got the land through the Member of Parliament for the area and one friend of Rawlings in the area, Mr. Oheneba Kwasi Oppong Akutu.”

When The Chronicle contacted Mr. Victor Emmanuel Smith, the ex-President’s aide, who was also a signatory to the land deal, last Saturday evening, he said, “The chief and his people are being merely irresponsible. The whole thing, I believe, smacks of political interference. His conduct is an embarrassment to the other chiefs of Akwamu land, because we see no reason why after a transaction had been sealed, he would turn round and reverse it.”

Mr. Smith, who confirmed that he had received the notice of no entry from Nana a couple of weeks ago, said he believes that Nana Ansah Prem is in the process of reselling the land to a higher bidder.

“We are surprised about the conduct of Nana. How after selling the plot to the ex-President and documents of the land were made available to that effect and we are also in the process of registering the land at the Lands Registry, we see no apparent reason why he should now come out of the blue to say, they are no longer interested in giving the plot out to the ex-President. At the time that he (Nana) was selling the plot, hadn’t he consulted his people?” He asked.

Mr. Smith, in a bravado fashion, indicated bluntly that they have ignored the proscription order issued by their landlord and that they are still processing other documents for the land.