Give us back our land victims of Adjei-Kojo demolition exercise tell goverment
Some aggrieved residents of Adjei-Kojo, Suncity and Promised Land communities, near Tema, are pleading with the government to return their plots of land to them, two years after their houses were demolished by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC).
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They said they were victims of circumstance and had no idea that the land on which they had built their houses had been taken over by the government and given to the TDC.
Clad in red and black attire to signify their seriousness, the residents chanted songs demanding the return of the plots.
They said they were tired of putting up with family and friends and wanted the government to have compassion on them by returning the plots to them.
In January 2014, the TDC supervised the demolition exercise by armed security personnel that rendered about 500 residents, accused of encroaching on the land, homeless.
But speaking at a press conference yesterday on the second anniversary of the demolition exercise, the Chairman of the Sraha East Residents Association, Mr Francis Dzirenu, said the demolition left many of the residents in shock, sorrow and heartaches because some of them lost their life-time investment.
“We are pleading with the President to have mercy on us to return our lands to us with compassion or pay us compensation to cover our losses,” he said.
According to the residents, the houses were built with their entire life savings or retirement/pension benefits.
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Background
Following the demolition exercise in 2014, a special committee was set up by Parliament in March 2015 to look into the issue but the committee exonerated the TDC from any wrongdoing.
The committee, after investigations, reported that the land belonged to the TDC and asked the victims of the demolition to go to court and seek compensation from the chiefs who had sold the plots to them.
The committee’s report, which was adopted by Parliament, blamed the residents for not doing enough due diligence before buying the land from the chiefs.
Response
The Public Relations Officer of the TDC, Ms Dorothy Asare-Kuma, when contacted, referred the aggrieved residents to the findings of Parliament and urged them to contact the local chiefs for compensations.
Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh