Accra Mayor’s house auctioned
Four property of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) are said to have been sold by auction Thursday to settle judgement debt owed by the assembly to City and Country Waster Limited (CCWL).
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However, the AMA has denied the media report that some of its property had been auctioned to defray judgement debt it owed the waste management company.
It had been reported that the property of the assembly, including the residence of its Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, and three other apartments, had been sold to private individuals at an auction in Accra.
According to the news report, the residence of the chief executive was sold for GH¢850,000, while the three apartments went for GH¢780,000, GH¢725,000 and GH¢750,000.
Though the purchasers, who claimed to have done the bidding on behalf of friends or relatives, were yet to make payments, the amounts raised from the sale would be used to settle the $6,575,928.52 judgement debt the AMA owes CCWL.
It Is Not True
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Numo Blafo, at the AMA office, he said, “It is not true that our properties have been auctioned.”
“I do not think that a property could be auctioned without the knowledge of the owner,” he added.
He explained that the auctioning had to go through a process and that to the best of his knowledge there had not been any evaluation of the properties by valuers.
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But the auctioneer, Mr Jacobus Vandepuye of Vans Mart Auctioneers, the authorised auctioneers, insisted in a telephone interview that the properties had been sold.
He said he was only waiting for the winners of the bid to make payments after which the certificates of purchase and other documents covering the property would be handed over to them.
Notices
In early November this year notices of eviction and auction dated March 3, 2012 were found posted on the AMA property and at the head office of the assembly.
The auction notices were issued by the Accra High Court, while the eviction notices for the occupants of the residential apartments were signed by Mr Jacobus Vandepuyie of Vans Mart Auctioneers.
The CCWL had engaged in a legal battle with the AMA over the alleged termination of a waste management contract and the Supreme Court had, in 2008, ruled in favour of CCWL.
The court, in its ruling, had ordered that the properties of AMA be seized and sold by public auction unless the amount was paid to the waste management company.
To prevent the sale of its properties, the assembly had appealed to the government to bail it out by paying the amount owed CCWL, as it appeared the city authorities did not have the financial ability to take care of the debt at that time.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Ministry of Local Government, the minister was out on official duties, while his deputy said he had no knowledge of the auction. Other officials said they had got their information on the Internet and through reports on social media.