Tension brews at Gbetsile
The chief and elders of Gbetsile in the Kpone-Katamanso District in the Greater Accra Region have noted with concern the activities of land guards who are terrorising legitimate landowners and developers in the area.
They also said not only were the activities of land guards frustrating the people, but they had also become a nuisance in the night because those land guards turned themselves into armed robbers who robbed residents and raped ladies in the neighbourhood.
The traditional authorities have, therefore, sounded a strong warning to land guards operating in Gbetsile and on its boundary with Appolonia to desist from their nefarious operations before they find themselves in serious trouble.
Addressing a press conference last Wednesday at his palace, Nii Teye Kojo I made reference to encroachment on large tracts of land by persons whom he said did not have legitimate documents and advised the encroachers to give way before it was too late.
Nii Teye Kojo expressed disappointment over what he termed the inability of the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute the recalcitrant land guards and called on the police to up their game.
“The activities of these terrible land guards are centred on the boundary with Appolonia and within Gbetsile Stool lands. These activities have been reported several times to the police, yet no arrests are made, and the people still live in fear. We call on the police to intensify their security patrols around the community and to protect lives and property and to also prosecute persons who are found culpable,’’ he said.
He pointed out that Gbetsile lands “are stool lands which are owned solely by the Gbetsile Stool and, therefore, any person or group of persons who intends to buy or lease a piece of land in Gbetsile must approach the Stool.”
“It has come to the attention of the Gbetsile Stool that several people have occupied pieces or parcels of Gbetsile Stool lands without legitimate cause. The Gbetsile Stool, therefore, entreats all residents of Gbetsile who have built on parcels or portions of Gbetsile lands but do not have documents from the Stool to report to the Gbetsile Stool immediately for regularisation of their interest in the lands,’’ Nii Teye Kojo indicated.
He said any person or group of persons who failed to comply would have themselves to blame when the stool institutes a court action against them or if there is an order for demolition of their buildings.
Alleged ownership of land
Nii Teye Kojo alleged that about 600 acres belonging to the Gbetsile Stool located on the boundary with Appolonia¡ have been wrongfully taken over and fenced by the management of Zoomlion and Sino Africa Development Company.
According to him, no such parcel of land has been released or given to Zoomlion or Sino Africa Development.
He, therefore, cautioned the developers to desist from embarking on any development on the said land but should contact the Stool, stressing that ‘’there is only one occupant of the Gbetsile Stool and his name is Nii Tei Kojo I.’’
The Paramount Chief of the Kpone Traditional Area, Nii Tetteh Otu, advised the youth in the area to desist from giving support to chiefs and selfish people in the area who were engaged in the sale of lands in the community.