Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP petitions Prez
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has petitioned the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, to release 632.20 acres of land belonging to the chiefs and people of Adoagyiri, Ntoaso, Owuraku and Akwamu in the Eastern Region.
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The land was compulsorily acquired by an Executive Instrument in 1977 for "pineapple production" but has not been used for the purpose.
However, instead of it reverting to the original owners as stipulated by law, the entire parcel has been leased to Carriedem Development Company Ltd for a period of 50 years.
Petition
According to the petition, dated March 5, 2015, the land was compulsorily acquired without the knowledge and consent of the chiefs and people of the towns.
It said no compensation was paid to any of the chiefs and elders of the towns.
The petition noted that the land, which was acquired by the state, had never been used for the past 38 years for the production of pineapple for which it was intended.
Before the acquisition of the land, it said, parts of it were being used as cemeteries, royal mausoleums and settlements by some inhabitants of the four towns and were still being used for the same purposes.
"At the moment, Adoagyiri, Ntoaso, Owuraku and Akwamu are expanding at a fast rate and we have no other land to build thereon, except the land which was acquired under EI 31/77
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“Until recently, the chiefs and elders of the four towns did not know anything about the compulsory acquisition of the land.
“At the moment, some areas within the land in question have been developed with facilities like schools, church buildings, hotels, and houses with electricity and pipe-borne water extended to these places," it said.
Apart from the 632.20 acres, it said, another 135.54 acres of land covering the entire Ntoaso and Owuraku and a greater part of Adoagyiri had been leased out to the Eastern Region Lands Commission, which in turn had leased it to Carriedem.
According to the petition, on March 27, 2012, the citizens of the area petitioned the then President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, to release the land in question to tham, after which the matter was referred to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
While waiting for the directives and advice from the minister, it said, the people realised to their shock and surprise that the land had been leased to Carriedem for 50 years.
The company, it added, paid a "paltry, wicked, unpardonable, unforgiving and unimaginable price of GH¢5 per acre of land" for the entire 770.74 acres
The petition said the owner of Caridem, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, managed to register the entire land within 18 days of the lease.
"It is sad to know that checks at the Lands Commission, Koforidua, proved that EI 31/77 has been used to cover up and ward off potential developers of the land that has actually been leased out illegally to Mrs Rawlings and her company.
“With heavy hearts, the chiefs and people of Adoagyiri, Ntoaso, Owuraku, Akwamu and the four families of Ntoaso feel cheated and abused by the Eastern Region Lands Commission, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and her company and the government of Ghana.
“We, therefore, wish to petition the government that all efforts must be made to release the unused land back to us the rightful owners of the land,” the petition said.