Tafo residents demonstrate against sale of land

About one thousand transport owners and residents of Tafo Mile 4, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, last Sunday staged a two-hour demonstration in protest against the sale of a parcel of land on which was situated the community bus terminal and some residential houses.

The demonstrators, many of whom wore red attires with scarfs to match, walked all the way from Tafo to Kejetia through to the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), where they presented a petition to the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong.

The protestors were, however, unfortunate in their attempt to present a petition to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. This was because the Asantehene was at the time hosting officials from the Local Government Ministry led by the Minister, Mr Julius Debrah.

The protestors, who were angry, alleged that the chief of Tafo, Nana Agyin Frimpong, with the connivance of officials of the KMA, had sold the land to the Atwima Kwanwoman Rural Bank.

The chief, however, denies the allegation and maintains that he had never indulged in any illegal sale of the land that was meant for the people.

A check by the Daily Graphic at the Lands Department offices in Kumasi, however, revealed that the land in question was sold to the rural bank by the Lands Commission. It was further verified that at the time of sale of the said land, it was not occupied. 

An official of the Lands Department said the sale of the land by the department to the rural bank was without malice and was the right thing to do since it was unoccupied and no one had laid claim to it. 

The protesters nonetheless maintained that they would fight tooth and nail to win back the land, which they claim, belongs to the community.