Owoo Family concerned about Achimota Lands

Accra, March 11, GNA - The Nii Owoo Family of Gamashie on Thursday expressed concern about the sale of portions of the Achimota lands for residential and other commercial purposes, saying the action was against the laws of the country.

The family said the sales were taking place without the involvement and consent of the family members who were the rightful owners of the land.

A statement signed by eight family members including Mr John Kwartey Nee-Owoo, Joint Head of Family in charge of Administration and George Phixon Nee-Owoo, Secretary, said the recent 93loud noise" being made by the Achimota School authorities over the school lands was a matter of great concern to the family. The statement said the Family, being the pre-acquisition owners of the land, had remained 93deliberately silent as issues are still being dealt with in the courts", while the School authorities continued to put volumes of information in the public domain. It explained that the Achimota school lands were never bought from their grandfather, George Owoo alias Nii Owoo II, as being claimed by the school authorities. "The family has watched and listened in utter amazement as those with great influence and clout have whipped up public opinion", though there was no such sale as the public has been made to believe.

It said the basic fact concerning the lands were that the Achimota lands were compulsorily acquired by the colonial government from Nii Owoo family in 1921, specifically for educational purposes. Notice of intention to do so was compiled under section (II) of the 1876 Ordinance and was published in Gazette No. 106 of 20th August 1921 and 4,000 pounds compensation given to the family.

A certificate of title No. 869/1921 was issued to the colonial government describing the extent of the land , 1,906.639 acres, stating explicitly in conclusion, 93Vested in the Colonial Secretary of the Gold Coast Colony and its successors to the use of His Majesty according to the true intent and meaning of the said Ordinance". A portion of the acquired land, 1,080,752 acres, was subsequently vested in the Achimota School Council in 1930 under Section 29 (1) of Cap 114. The certificate of the title meant that neither the colonial government and its successors nor Achimota School Board could break out from the straight-jacket position created by the acquisition of 1921, 93that is to say, the land must at all times be used in accordance with the purpose of the ordinance".

The statement said the family, sometime in 1998 discovered that 198 plots had been parcelled out for private residential and commercial building purposes by the Achimota School Board, all in contravention of the ordinance certificate of title.

An elaborate scheme set out in a brochure entitled 93site and service project" with plot layouts including the cost of plots with application procedures were circulating in exclusive circles. This fell into the family's hands by chance.

When actual demarcation started on the site, the youth of the family petitioned to the school authorities to no avail. In the act of desperate self help they took a stand on the land. Sometime in the year 2002, the elders of the family caused legal action to be initiated against the Chairman of Achimota School Board and headmistress on the grounds that the utilization of the land for private residential purposes was a direct breach of the acquisition ordinance.

Though attempts were initiated by the family to settle the matter out of court the School Board was adamant but the court eventually gave a fair and balanced judgment, suit Nos-L367/2002 and L525/2002. The Nii Owoo family subsequently appealed to government to have the situation regularised but the Achimota Board was still adamant. The matter even ended up at the Presidency and the family published a disclaimer about squatters and encroachment in 93The Folly" a local newspaper.

"There is ample evidence that the 1921 acquisition ordinance has been completely savaged and that previous land departments and their successors have through shear neglect failed to administer the ordinance within the terms of the Act, resulting in grave injustice to the original owners".

"A case in point is the residential area of Abelemkpe, where the family's constitutional rights were ignored in 1965 when the Accra/Tema Motorway Extension passed through the acquisition. A portion of the land, about 28 acres was hived off and promptly rezoned as residential and leases were offered to prominent citizens with utter disregard to the rights of Nii Owoo Family as enshrined in Article 20 (5) and (6) of the 1992 Constitution", the statement said. "All we are asking for is fairness and justice for the clans of Nii Owoo Family of Gamashie", it added