Ordeal of city law enforcer

It was Thursday, January 24, 2019. Municipal authority business was brisk. Two city law enforcers of the authority — a director in charge of Works and a Building Inspector — both public safety officers — were picked and whisked to the dreadful premises of the intelligence bureau in the city.

There, towards twilight and having failed to extract incriminating evidence against them after a grueling interrogation, and throwing away bye-laws tendered to justify an earlier enforcement action, the worst happened!

The director was crudely thrown into a cell and kept in solitary confinement overnight. He was hauled out early the following morning and given a numbered prison inmate apparel.

To humiliate him further, he was marched outside and photographed multiple times in public.

Upset after hearing the disturbing development, the Presiding Member of the local authority — upon setting eyes on his Works Engineer clad in prison clothing could not control his tears!

Their crime? For the resolute supervision of an enforcement operation in towing to the premises of the Assembly — vehicles — from an unauthorised mechanic workshop, obstructing space meant to host a building project the same authority Planning board had granted a Planning and Building permit.

Strangely, as this drama unfolded on that day, the Mayor of the assembly in the company of the Coordinating Director had quietly visited the intelligence office. They did not intervene, but abandoned these officers to swelter in and savour the harassment.

Violations

Today, violations have increased worsening problems of the city. Footprints of flood-related disasters, zero enforcement, acute encroachments on waterways and wetlands abound.

Countless state acquired lands for Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University Cape Coast (UCC) are encroached and yet to be recovered for the state.

Road median signs, unkempt and dangerous advertising hoardings clutter the city ceremonial streets and public-right-of-ways.

Today, the chickens have come home to roost! The powerful local politicians are pleading for help as the unrelenting floods rampage their backyards. (Help deal with the floods – Asokwa MCE appeals to Academia, Daily Graphic Friday, July 29 2022).

Law must be applied

The law must be applied! Critical in fronting and fighting this mess or applying the law are these persecuted fraternity of city law enforcers. These are valuable human resource trained specifically to apply city building, planning and other engineering statutes.

Unleashing frightening state security bravado to cow such operatives of the law is backward and a vicious precedent.

The toil of these officers policing the length and breadth of the built environment to enhance safety and convenience of city dwellers is hardly appreciated.

Today, the media is ignorantly calling for the blood of these city engineers. (... not happy with the assemblies and their technical officers who ...have failed to ensure order...their technical officers must be held liable and charged for dereliction of their duty...punish those who clutter our city... Graphic editorial Saturday August 20, 2022.)

Today by divine grace, a messiah has landed!

War path

Fed-up with the massive thievery of state lands, the failure of assemblies to halt the widespread land encroachment abuses — key to the perennial flooding of cities; fired up by the President’s call to delete structures in waterways; the Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, is now on a warpath.

A brave but herculean offensive to contain a muddled field of hardened, unchecked, but pampered built environment lawbreakers — let loose perpetuating dysfunctional communities making up the Greater Accra urban fabric.

An array of aggressive land trespassers, aggrieved traditional authorities, shady real estate brokers, developers without title deeds, kiosk or open space squatters to easement or frontage shopping traders.

Regrettably, these defiant group violating Accra's spatial and building statutes, more visible when national election beckons are largely the making of the very appointed local leaders and key sensitive state institutions!

The writer is an architect/city engineer/immediate past MD of AESL and a built environment expert. E-mail: akotosamuelyaw@gmail.com