CJ Wood’s State Land Saga

…No Fraud, No ‘Libilibi’, No Fishy Deal!

SOURCE: NEW CRUSADING GUIDE

Contrary to malicious reports in sections of the Ghanaian media to the effect that Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Koshie Wood (Nee Lutterodt) had illegally and fraudulently acquired a plot of State Land during the Kufuor-led NPP 2 administration, documentary evidence available to The New Crusading GUIDE indicates that her application for and acquisition of the State Land were legitimate, transparent and in accordance with the laid-down procedures/due process of the Lands Commission.

Again, recent attempts to cast doubts on her acceptance of the Lands Commission’s decision to withdraw its (Lands Commission’s) offer of Plot No.2, Airport Residential Area (Site For International Students’ Hostel) made to her (Chief Justice Wood) on October 6, 2008, have turned out to be unsustainable and unmeritorious in the face of official records obtained from the Lands Commission.

Georgina Theodora Wood, a full-blooded Ghanaian of Osu and Gamashie extraction, who begun her carrier in law enforcement as a Public Professor with the Ghana Police Service in the early 1970s, joined the Judicial Service of Ghana in 1974, first as a District Magistrate, rising to positions on the Circuit Court (1973-86) and High Court (1986-91) and later as a Court of Appeal Judge in 1991.

On November 12, 2002, she was appointed to the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, and eventually became the Chief Justice of Ghana in June 2007; the first woman in Ghanaian history to be elevated to that high office, constitutionally the fourth position after the President, Vice-President and the Speaker of Parliament.

The records show that Mrs. Wood, in her capacity as a Justice of the Supreme Court, prior to her elevation to the position of Chief Justice, formally applied to the Lands Commission to acquire a plot of land, and she was subsequently allocated Plot No.37 at Martey Tsuru in 2007.
“WILL A PERSON, WHO LACKS INTEGRITY AND DECENCY, WORK TILL LATE IN THE SUNSET OF HER CAREER ON THE BENCH, TO APPLY LEGITIMATELY TO THE STATUTORY AND LAWFUL BODY, THE LANDS COMMISSION, FOR LAND?”, queried a senior official of the Lands Commission who spoke to this paper on condition of strict anonymity.

The New Crusading GUIDE, in the course of its investigations, sighted a series of correspondences between Chief Justice Wood and the Lands Commission which re-inforced the point that the Chief Justice had not abused her office or position to manipulate the process to get any State Land allocated her, as her detractors would want Ghanaians and the world to believe.

On October 6, 2008, the Lands Commission in a letter signed by the Regional Lands Officer, Mr. J.E.K. Dadson, which was copied to the Executive Secretary, Lands Commission, the Chairman, National Lands Commission and the Chairman, Greater Accra Regional Lands Commission, officially informed Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, that “the Lands Commission has directed that Plot No.2 Airport Residential (Hostel Site), Accra, covering an area of 0.21 acre and shown edged pink on the attached site plan be allocated to you. This is in replacement of Plot No. 37 Martey Tsuru Residential Area which was earlier allocated to you”.
The letter under reference also spelt out the cost of the parcel of land, the terms of payment and the conditions governing the sale and stressed that “the plot shall be used for residential purposes only”

“Chief Justice Wood does not serve on the Lands Commission or any of its Committees and therefore could not have been involved in the choice of the land, its location, the size and cost of the land or any other processes that culminated in the eventual transfer of the land to her”, emphasised our Lands Commission source.

The Lands Commission, however, in a letter dated December 16, 2009 which was signed by Alhaji M.A. Alhassan, the Regional Lands Officer, formally notified Mrs. Wood of the Commission’s decision to withdraw its offer of Plot No.2 Airport Residential Area (Site for International Students Hostel, Accra) to her because according to Alhaji Alhassan, “the withdrawal has been necessitated by the re-zoning of the whole site by the Accra Metro Assembly from residential use to its original use ante, i.e. civic/cultural (offices”.

“The re-zoning became necessary following the desire expressed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to re-possess the site for its use. Under the circumstances the lease cannot be granted by the Lands Commission as residential development will no longer be permitted in the area”, explained Alhaji Alhassan.

While deeply regretting the inconvenience caused the Chief Justice by the turn of events, Alhaji Alhassan noted that “the Lands Commission will refund to you the official payments you made in respect of the allocation and all justifiable incidental expenses”.
IT IS SIGNIFICANT TO NOTE THAT IN WITHDRAWING ITS OFFER, AT NO POINT DID THE LANDS COMMISSION ACCUSE THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF ACQUIRING THE LAND ILLEGALLY OR UNLAWFULLY OR HAVING BEEN ENGAGED IN AN UNCONSCIONABLE BARGAIN.

There is also evidence to show that on May 31, 2010, the Chief Justice wrote to the Lands Commission accepting the withdrawal of the offer.

“I HAVE ACCEPTED THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE OFFER OF THE SAID PARCEL OF LAND. YOU MAY RECALL THAT I WAS MADE TO PAY GH¢1,576.00 IN RESPECT OF PLOT NO.37, MARTEY TSURU RESIDENTIAL AREA. LATER ON, WHEN THE SAID PLOT OF LAND WAS REPLACED WITH PLOT NO.2 AIRPORT RESIDENTIAL AREA, I WAS AGAIN REQUESTED TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF GH¢18,560.00. THE TOTAL AMOUNT THEREFORE PAID TO THE LANDS COMMISSION FOR THE SAID PARCEL OF LAND IS GH¢20,136.00. I WILL BE GRATEFUL IF THE COMMISSION COULD REFUND TO ME THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF GH¢20,136.00 IN RESPECT OF THE ALLOCATION OF THE SAID LAND”, articulated Mrs. Wood.

Following the recent agitations over the sale of State Lands to certain public officers, Mrs. Wood wrote a reminder on October 11, 2010 to the Lands Commission on the promised refund and the contents of her May 31, 2010 letter quoted above.

“THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE SINCE NOT RECEIVED A RESPONSE ON THE SAID LETTER FROM THE LANDS COMMISSION. I WILL THEREFORE BE GRATEFUL IF I COULD RECEIVE AN EARLY RESPONSE TO MY LETTER OF 31ST MAY 2010”, she pleaded.

Alhaji Alhassan, the Greater Accra Regional Lands Officer, swiftly responded by indicating that Mrs. Wood’s reminder had come to the Commission as a surprise “since we thought the matter had been put to rest”.

He said “for some inexplicable reasons”, a cheque for Gh¢20,136.00 which was signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Lands Commission as far back as June 7, 2010, “was not delivered to you” (Mrs. Wood).
“Please find attached the cheque No. 820795 in the sum of Twenty Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty Six Ghana Cedis (Gh¢20,136.00) being the refund of the payments you made to the Lands Commission”, Alhaji Alhassan wrote in his October 12, 2010 letter to Mrs. Wood, and apologetically added, “kindly accept our sincerest apologies for the delay”.

Although Chief Justice Wood incurred a few incidental expenses those were not factored into the amount refunded and she has also not made any request for that to be done.

A scrutiny of official records at the Lands Commission clearly show that Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood came by the plot situated at the Airport International Students Hostel site through legitimate means and at the instance of the Lands Commission.

It has also been clearly established that she met the requirements set out by the Lands Commission for the acquisition of that parcel of Land as indicated in one of her letters to the Commission relative to the “Replacement of Plot No. 37 Martey Tsuru Residential Area with Allocation of Plot No. 2 Airport Residential Area (Hostel Site, Area)”.

“I acknowledge with thanks receipt of your letter dated 6th October, 2008 on the above subject-matter replacing Plot No.37 Martey Tsuru Residential Area which was earlier allocated to me with Plot No.2 Airport Residential (Hostel Site) Area. I am happy to accept the offer as per the conditions and requirements set out in the letter. In compliance with your request, I forward herewith separate Bankers Draft in respect of the various amounts demanded”, wrote Mrs. Wood on October 14, 2008.

“As a distinguished public servant who had dutifully served the State for nearly four decades, what was her offence if an offer of a State land was made to her, not free of charge but at a cost, which offer she accepted and made full payment for, for which she has to be subjected to public abuse and ridicule?”, lamented the senior official of the Lands Commission who did not want to be identified for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, evidence is emerging to the effect that the Kufuor Administration effected a change in the decision to use the former International Students Hostel Site (Airport Area) for civic/cultural (offices) purposes, and decided that the area should be used for residential purposes hence the decision of the Lands Commission to allocate plots in that area to people including Chief Justice Wood, “for residential purposes only”.

“A NEW SITE/LOCATION WAS FOUND FOR THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (MFA) AND OTHERS AT RIDGE, NEAR THE OFFICES OF THE FORMER MINISTRY OF FISHERIES. IT IS THE DECISION BY THE MILLS ADMINISTRATION TO REVERT TO THE EARLIER OPTION OF THE KUFUOR ADMINISTRATION THAT IS THE BASIS FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE LANDS COMMISSION’S WITHDRAWAL OF ITS OFFER(S)”, clarified the senior official of the Lands Commission.
Please stay tuned…