Regional News of Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Source: THE SUN

OKESS Land Saga Takes A New Twist

Hard hitting investigations carried out by your authoritative THE SUN NEWS PAPER in Kumasi indicate that unless the unexpected happens, the likelihood of liquidation of the Ghana Education Service (GES). It is eminently predictable whether or not the GES has to choose either loosing its Kumasi Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School (OKESS) land or pay a sky rocketing and whooping compensation of about GH¢40.00 million, to the Busumuru – Nkwantwima Family Stool the owners of the land in dispute. The emerging facts followed the taken over of the Busumuru – Nkwantwima Stool Land for education purposes without payment of compensation on the land. The School in question which has catapulted the GES into the woeful debt is Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School (OKESS) at Old Tafo in Kumasi. The alleged land involved in the issue is 168.28 acres. About 157 buildings sited on a land which the school authorities said belongs to Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School (OKESS) ,which were in their final stages of construction have so far been razed to the ground, by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA). The demolished structures including four buildings belonging to four churches in the area. In all, about 250 buildings many of which were uncompleted are said to have been unlawfully constructed on the school land. There, has been a long – standing dispute over the land between the authorities of the school and the Busumuru Stool who are the land owners. School authorities claimed that two – thirds of 168.28 acres land belonging to the School had been taken over by the encroachers. However the owners of the affected properties (“Encroachers” ) insisted they legally acquired the lands from the Busumuru Chief. Mr. Samuel Sarpong, the KMA Boss personally supervised the demolition exercise. Policemen were present to prevent any possible clash between the authorities and the residents, who might have brought to stop the exercise.