Baptist Community School says it bought land legitimately

Accra, May 24, GNA - Faith Baptist Community School Complex at Madina, the school at the centre of last week's riots over a disputed plot of land, on Tuesday said it went through all legal processes to acquire the land.

Speaking at a press conference at Madina, near Accra, the Assistant Headmaster of the School, the Reverend Joseph Oduro Yeboah, said Redco, a construction firm, and the Faith Community Baptist Church, signed an agreement for the use of the land on May 7, 1982.

The land is claimed by the School and Muslim youth. Twenty youth are standing trial for various offences following last week's riots that led to injuries to several people and damage to property.

Giving a chronology of the acquisition of the land, Rev Oduro Yeboah said the Lands Commission in February 1995 confirmed the Baptist School as the owner and it then began paying rent on the land including arrears.

Rev Oduro Yeboah said in June 1998 the School wrote a letter to the truck drivers, who were occupying the land, to vacate to allow them to begin the development of the plot.

He said the Baptist School was inaugurated by former President Jerry John Rawlings on December 10, 1999.

In 2001, the land dispute was heard by the Accra Circuit Tribunal Court "B".

Rev. Oduro Yeboah said in June 2002 the La Mantse wrote to Sheikh Yunus Ibrahim to warn the Zongo Community to desist from disturbing the School.

The second court suit No. BL729/2005 between the proprietor of the school and Imoro Yakubu was heard 2005.

On May 30, 2008 the High Court ruled in favour of Faith Community Baptist Church and the Court of Appeal ruling in June 2008 went again in favour of Baptist School Complex.

Rev Oduro Yeboah said on November 29, 2010 the Appeals Court dismissed the case filed by the opposing side and a Writ of Possession was issued by the High Court on April 1, 2011.

He said the unauthorized occupants of the land were to be removed on the May 19 and the irate youth embarked on their demonstration on the May 17, 2011.

He thanked the police for their quick response when the situation was getting out of hand. The Headmistress, Ms Kate Oduro Osafo, said the situation in the School was calm and appealed to parents to allow their children to return to School.

She stressed that the land in dispute was the bona fid0e property of the Faith Baptist Community School Complex and it was acquired about 24 years ago.

Ms Osafo said the school had granted scholarship to needy but brilliant students from the Madina-Zongo Community and the School's premises had often been used as a place for ante-natal clinics, a polling station, political rallies and Muslim prayers.

She said although the school was a Christian institution it had never discriminated against the Muslims and expressed surprise at the way the irate demonstrators went about destroying the property of the School.