The President, John Evans Atta Mills has bought a land worth hundred and eighty Million old cedis (¢Gh18,000)and has commenced with the building of a massive mansion on the land within 10 months in office as the president of the Republic of Ghana!

Currently, the project is uncompleted, but the building, which is located at the Edina (Elmina) Essaman close to Ataabadze junction in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem in the Central Region of Ghana, is moving ahead rapidly! Investigations conducted by The Searchlight newspaper indicate that the said land was originally leased by the late father of President Atta Mills for farming purposes, but the lease lapsed a few years back.

At the time Senior Atta Mills was a lecturer at the Komenda Training College in the same district. The land was originally meant for coconut and citrus plantation, this paper foundout. Investigation conducted reveals that the late father of the president paid a token to the Essaman Nsona Royal Family who are the owners of the land with the acquisition agreement was to be renewed after twenty-five (25) years.

Investigations in the community last week revealed that after the lease period lapsed, and following the death of Senior Atta Mills, the owners of the land informed President Mill and his siblings they will not allow the place to be used for farming activities again because the area has become a residential area. In that direction they divided the land into two and sold half to the President for an amount of one hundred and eighty million Ghana cedis.

It was learnt through various interviews in the community that the money was paid to the Chief of the community Nana Kwasi Tano IV, but he chief allegedly kept part of the money and gave the rest to the owners of the land - the Essaman Nsona Royal Family, but his made them angry, leading to an all out war between the Chief and the land owners.

Highly placed sources at the Elmina Traditional Council said the case has been reported there for solution and the Elmina Chief has alleged spoken to the president about it.

Meanwhile the Searchlight has learnt that a sister of the president, Madam Efe Mills who is the wife of Professor Afful of the University of Cape Coast has always been chasing the Essaman Nsona Royal family to sign the land documents, but the family has refused because they did not receive the full payment of one hundred and eighty million which Professor Mills is supposed to have paid to the Chief.

Meanwhile the main person fronting for the building of the mansion is his brother Samuel Mills who was in America with Cadman Mills. As at Friday when this reporter led scouts to the property, the person acting as caretaker of the properties on the land was the president’s nephew called Theophilus Mills.

Local inhabitants are deeply unhappy and said that they are very annoyed with the President because within this short period he has put up a mansion in the area, with his nephews, who have all suddenly become rich, also chasing lands to buy. They said that the President promised to improve their lot and bring jobs to the area, but the improvement is only happening in the lives of his family members, whilst their jobs is only construction work on his mansion and working on pigs for his farm.