Land Hunter Chases Gbevlo-Lartey And Others

Attempts by the Mills’ administration to take back state lands, dished out to the cronies and party henchmen of the Kufuor regime, for public use is becoming a daunting task as most of the beneficiaries continue to rush to the courts to keep a grip on their booty.

One such case at the Human Rights Court presided over by Justice Paul Uuter Dery, involves the National Security Co-ordinator, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, the Ministry of Defence and the Attorney-General who have been dragged to court by a private company, Western Trade Network Limited, over a land belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces.

Parts of the disputed land located at North Dzorwulu, off the Motorway Extension in Accra, houses the President’s security details, officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), personnel of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB), officers of the Police Service and the National Dog Academy, manned by the Ghana Armed Forces.

A letter dated May 4, 2011 and signed by Lt.-Col. Gbevlo-Lartey, has stated that a purported rezoning of the area by Lands Commission, through which Western Trade Network Ltd was allotted the land in October 2008, was done without the authorization of the National Security Council Secretariat, as should have been the case.

Accordingly, the National Security Council Secretariat has since taken back the land and walled it to protect its installations.

But this has not gone down well with the Western Trade Network Ltd, one of the many beneficiaries of the land, and has, therefore, taken the National Security capo, Mr. Gbevlo-Lartey, as a person and the Attorney General to court to re-take the land.

Checks conducted at the Registrar General’s Department in Accra, reveal that Western Trade Network Limited, is owned by a certain George Owusu and Oscar Yao Doe, with one Mrs. Edna Kekrebesi, as its secretary.

Oscar Yao Doe who holds majority shares in the company is also the owner of a Doscar Travel and Tours, located at Sedco House, North Ridge Accra. He is also one of the bigwigs behind the France Chamber of Commerce. What is not clear is whether Mr. George Owusu, listed on the registration form, is the same George Owusu of Kosmos fame, an oil prospecting and drilling company.

Western Trade Network Limited, was registered in 2006, and has its authorized businesses listed as General Trading, Real Estate Developers, Hotel Resort Operators, Import and Export and Oil and Gas Facilitators.

The law firm of Mr. Yoni Kulendi, Kulendi @ Law, filed the suit against the National Security Co-ordinator and the others on behalf of the comapany.

In a brief forwarded to the Attorney-General and cited by The Herald, the National Security Council contends that it has had to take back the land because it was designated as security zone for use by the military and other security apparatus.

It said portions of the land have already been used for some National Security installations, dating back to the First Republic, whiles other facilities were constructed in the 1990s with some additional security installations to be provided from time to time as budgetary allocations are provided.

It, therefore, warned that the development of private properties on such a land will not only truncate ongoing projects by the security agencies, but is also assessed as unsafe and unacceptable for national security.

It said under the circumstance, the National Security Council Secretariat has brought the anomaly which could have been inadvertent, to the notice of the appropriate officials of the Lands Commission, and it has been reliably informed that the Land Commission is in the process of resolving the matter with stakeholders.

Western Trade Network Limited is asking the court to declare that it is the lawful owner of the land measuring approximately 4.13 acres as it has a right to own its property.

It also wants a declaration that the conduct of the National Security Co-ordinator and the others amount to an interference and violation of the right to own, develop, use and enjoy its parcel of the land. In addition, it wants the court to award general damages against them for unlawful trespassing of the land, which is a violation of its fundamental right to own property.

The company is also praying the court to declare that the National Security Council Secretariat has treated the company unfairly and has discriminated against it, as other persons mentioned in the affidavit attached to the writ, own lands in the same area but have not had their structures demolished.

It also wants an order of perpetual injunction, restraining the parties, their ‘successors in office as National Security Co-ordinator, Minister of Defence respectively, their agents, operatives and hirelings, whosoever, described from entering, onto the land to interfere with its right to own its property.