Wahala Man In Trouble

Danny Ofori Atta, the running-mate of Dr Edward Mahama of the Grand Coalition in the December 7, 2004 elections, has been accused of fraudulently selling two plots of land for ?800 million which does not belong to him.

The third prosecution witness in the case, who is a representative from the family, owners of the property, yesterday, July 20, 2005, told an Accra Circuit Court that the signatures which appeared on Ofori Atta's papers, which he used to claim the land, were that of people who died over 30 years before, the coming into being of those documents.

According to the witness, the family, which owns the land, had contacted Ofori-Atta and drawn his attention to the anomaly, on his papers, after the sale of the land. Counsel for Ofori-Atta, Lawyer Charlys Pozzeyn, had argued, however, that his client had an interest in the property, at the time it was sold to Veronica Twintoh. According to him the original owners of the land, gave it to CFAO, which in turn, gave it out to a certain Adjoa Addah, who, eventually, gave the land to Ofori Atta.

Danny Ofori Atta, a leading member of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), organizers of the series of Wahala demonstratons in the country, allegedly conspired with a certain Abbia Kwakye Addo, and sold the two plots of land at Osu, to a certain veronica Twintoh for ?800million.

The two accused persons have been jointly charged on four counts of conspiracy to defraud by false pretences, conspiracy to forge official document, defrauding by false pretences, and forgery of official document. The facts of the case, as presented to the court by Chief Insprector Benedicta Akolgo, are that, Abbia Kwakye Addo, a self-styled surveyor, and Ofori Atta's errand boy, with the connivance of the latter, succeeded in selling a piece of land, at Osu, for ?800million, to Madam Twintoh, ad her husband, Joe Boateng, late last year.

The land in question was, apparently, under the ownership of Ofori Atta, on leasehold basis. Ofori Atta, who was not the owner of the land, and was far away in London, at the time of the sale, however, allegedly managed to influence certain people at the Lands Commission to alter the papers covering the land, into the name of Abbia-Kwakye Addo, on a freehold basis.

According to Addo, he changed part of the ?800million, as proceeds from Twintoh and her husband, into foreign money, and remitted it to Ofori Atta in London. He disclosed that, he took part of the money, and gave a portion to Ofori Atta's wife, while he was robbed of the rest by certain armed men. The story has it that, when Ofori Atta came down from London to Accra, in February this year, he objected to Madam Twintoh developing the land, in question.

He demanded 100,000 more from Twintoh from the land and threatened to take action against her, and the husband, for demolishing two dilapidated structures on the land. Madam Twintoh, obviously shocked at the development, decided to report the matter to the police whereupon Ofori Atta and Abbia-Kwakye Addo were arrested by the police. The two, later, promised to refund the money, but have not done so.