By Alfred Dogbey
The man fighting government for daring to retrieve a state bungalow that he bought from the erstwhile Kufour administration has now engaged the services of a private security company to crush any attempt by state agencies to take over the building from him for public use.
The private security company now has the building, called Bungalow 56 under a watertight surveillance, and under heir protection, masons and other artisans is briskly renovating it for private use.
The Herald witnessed a brazen disrespect to government’s orders to stop work on the building when the paper paid a visit to the bungalow allegedly sold to a certain Mr. Kumi, who is said to have also sold it to some Chinese nationals.
A very imposing notice from the government, the second of its kind which was consequently erected on the site after the paper’s publication, on the matter, asking Mr. Kumi and the general public not to venture onto the land, has been, yet again, ignored by him and his gang.
Last week, The Herald reported a tussle over this state bungalow, located adjacent the College of Physicians and Surgeons building at Ridge, near the Liberation Circle in Accra.
The notice with the inscription: “Keep Off, Government Property” which had once again been erected by government operatives after the first one was deliberately uprooted, could not even scare Mr. Kumi to leave the state property, rather he has held tight onto the state property.
What was more surprising to this paper, during its visit to the site, was that, Mr. Kumi had hired the services of private security firm to guard the bungalow which is located on a huge plot of land capable of housing four or five of its kind.
It is not clear to this paper what will be the government’s next action against the trespassers, including Mr. Kumi, who has refused to heed to the warning.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has expressed concern about the delay by President Mills in responding to its petition, asking for an independent committee of enquiry into the sale of state lands to government officials.
The Committee recently petitioned the Presidency over the sale of state bungalows and lands to public officials, and demanded that the issue be investigated.
The Committee said despite the delay in responding to its call for an enquiry into what it calls the “land grab” among public officials, it will not be discouraged in ensuring that the right thing is done.
The convener of the CJA, Kwasi Adu, has been quoted in the press as saying that various attempts by agencies like the Lands Commission to justify the appropriation of government bungalows and lands are disappointing.
“We are asking the President to set up a committee to investigate how all these things happened, so that the people of Ghana can well inform themselves on the issue. The Lands Commission is incapable of doing anything because they were the ones sitting there when the then government decided to change the use of the land without going through proper procedure”.
“So, the same people cannot come and say there were some things that went wrong. If some people were supposed to be filling some forms and they didn’t fill it and yet the Lands Commission gave them the lands, who are they now to tell us that they will do the right thing. What is our concern is that Government has kept quiet over this issue but this matter won’t be forgotten” he said.
A Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced recently that Government had started a process to retrieve all state lands and bungalows that were acquired by former State officials, particularly under the erstwhile Kufuor regime.
The man fighting government for daring to retrieve a state bungalow that he bought from the erstwhile Kufour administration has now engaged the services of a private security company to crush any attempt by state agencies to take over the building from him for public use.
The private security company now has the building, called Bungalow 56 under a watertight surveillance, and under heir protection, masons and other artisans is briskly renovating it for private use.
The Herald witnessed a brazen disrespect to government’s orders to stop work on the building when the paper paid a visit to the bungalow allegedly sold to a certain Mr. Kumi, who is said to have also sold it to some Chinese nationals.
A very imposing notice from the government, the second of its kind which was consequently erected on the site after the paper’s publication, on the matter, asking Mr. Kumi and the general public not to venture onto the land, has been, yet again, ignored by him and his gang.
Last week, The Herald reported a tussle over this state bungalow, located adjacent the College of Physicians and Surgeons building at Ridge, near the Liberation Circle in Accra.
The notice with the inscription: “Keep Off, Government Property” which had once again been erected by government operatives after the first one was deliberately uprooted, could not even scare Mr. Kumi to leave the state property, rather he has held tight onto the state property.
What was more surprising to this paper, during its visit to the site, was that, Mr. Kumi had hired the services of private security firm to guard the bungalow which is located on a huge plot of land capable of housing four or five of its kind.
It is not clear to this paper what will be the government’s next action against the trespassers, including Mr. Kumi, who has refused to heed to the warning.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has expressed concern about the delay by President Mills in responding to its petition, asking for an independent committee of enquiry into the sale of state lands to government officials.
The Committee recently petitioned the Presidency over the sale of state bungalows and lands to public officials, and demanded that the issue be investigated.
The Committee said despite the delay in responding to its call for an enquiry into what it calls the “land grab” among public officials, it will not be discouraged in ensuring that the right thing is done.
The convener of the CJA, Kwasi Adu, has been quoted in the press as saying that various attempts by agencies like the Lands Commission to justify the appropriation of government bungalows and lands are disappointing.
“We are asking the President to set up a committee to investigate how all these things happened, so that the people of Ghana can well inform themselves on the issue. The Lands Commission is incapable of doing anything because they were the ones sitting there when the then government decided to change the use of the land without going through proper procedure”.
“So, the same people cannot come and say there were some things that went wrong. If some people were supposed to be filling some forms and they didn’t fill it and yet the Lands Commission gave them the lands, who are they now to tell us that they will do the right thing. What is our concern is that Government has kept quiet over this issue but this matter won’t be forgotten” he said.
A Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced recently that Government had started a process to retrieve all state lands and bungalows that were acquired by former State officials, particularly under the erstwhile Kufuor regime.
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