Trasacco boss, two others cited for contempt
The Chief Executive Officer of Trasacco Estates Development Company Ltd, Mr Ernesto Taricone, and two others are to appear before the Accra High Court to purge themselves of contempt charges levelled against them by the Paramount Chief of the Nungua Traditional Area in Accra, King Odaifio Welentsi III.
A motion on notice filed by the chief at the court to that effect named the other defendants as Pamela Nkansah and Fiore Trust.
Supporting Affidavit
In a supporting affidavit to the motion, King Odaifio Welentsi said he commenced an action seeking an order of perpetual injunction against the defendants from interfering or dealing with a parcel of land, the subject matter of the dispute.
The affidavit said on April 3, 2013, the chief filed a motion at the court seeking an interlocutory injunction against the defendants to restrain them from any dealing with the land.
It said on May 14, 2013, the court granted an injunction against the defendants from entering the land or having anything to do with it.
According to the affidavit, the defendants had ignored the court ruling and continued to work on the land, the injunction notwithstanding.
It said the conduct of the defendants constituted an unlawful interference with the administration of justice and undermined the authority of the court.
It further said the conduct of the defendants warranted their committal to prison or the imposition of appropriate punitive sanctions as the court would deem fit under the circumstances.
Interlocutory Injunction
It would be recalled that the High Court, on May 14, 2013, granted an interlocutory injunction to restrain the three defendants and the Lands Commission from entering certain portions of land the government leased to the Nungua Stool at Mmai-Dzor in August 2010.
The order followed a motion on notice filed by the Nungua Stool to restrain the defendants from entering the land in dispute or having anything to do with it, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In the substantive suit, King Odaifio Welentsi is seeking a declaration that the consent to the assignment dated June 20, 2011 purportedly executed by the Nungua Stool to Pamela Nkansah was a product of fraud and, therefore, null and void.
He is also seeking a declaration that both deeds of assignment dated January 5, 2011 from Pamela Nkansah to Fiore Trust and Mr Taricone were fraudulent and, therefore, null and void.
The plaintiff is furthermore praying for an order directed at the Lands Commission to expunge from its records the consent assignment dated June 28, 2011 in favour of Pamela Nkansah.
In addition, the plaintiff is seeking an order for the Lands Commission to expunge from its records the assignment dated January 5, 2011 from Pamela Nkansah to Fiore Trust and Mr Taricone, as well as an order for recovery of the land in dispute.
By Debrah Fynn/Daily Graphic/Ghana
