LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL CITY LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION OF DAWHENYA - CCLAD.

 

WE ARE CITIZENS OF GHANA NUMBERING IN OUR SEVERAL HUNDREDS.

 

WE HAVE LAWFULLY ACQUIRED OUR LANDS AND HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING OUR COMMUNITY IN DAWHENYA SINCE THE LATE 1990s AND 2000s. FROM OUR ASSOCIATION DATABASE, ABOUT 80% OF OUR MEMBERS BOUGHT THEIR LANDS BEFORE THE YEAR 2015.

 

A FEW DAYS AGO, MARCH 3, 2020 TO BE PRECISE, THE MINISTER FOR LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCES MR. KWAKU ASOMAH-CHEREMEH THREATENED TO CAUSE THE ARREST OF OUR MEMBERS WHO ARE LAWFULLY AND PEACEFULLY DEVELOPING THEIR LANDS. HE WENT ON TO STATE THAT HE WOULD ORDER DEMOLITION AND RAZING DOWN OF OUR LAWFULLY ACQUIRED PROPERTIES.

 

THESE ARE PROPERTIES THAT WE HAVE PAID FOR WITH OUR TOIL AND SWEAT AND HARD EARNED RESOURCES


FELLOW GHANAIANS, SINCE WHEN DID IT BECOME ILLEGAL TO ACQUIRE LAND FROM THE LEGAL  OWNERS OF SUCH LAND?

 

WE ASK FURTHER, SINCE WHEN DID IT BECOME JUST AND FAIR, TO THREATEN DEMOLITION OF PROPERTIES WHEN THE OWNERS HAD ACQUIRED AND HELD SAME FOR MANY YEARS EARLIER THAN THE PURPORTED DATE OF ACQUISITION BY GOVERNMENT USING AN EXECUTIVE INSTRUMENT?

AS LANDOWNERS, WE HEREBY STATE CATEGORICALLY, THAT GOVERNMENT DID NOT AND HAS NOT APPROACHED US TO ENQUIRE WHETHER WE WANT TO SELL OUR LAND TO GOVERNMENT.

 

NEITHER HAS GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATED WITH ANY REPRESENTATIVES APPOINTED BY US, TO NEGOTIATE ON OUR BEHALF AS LANDOWNERS, FOR PURCHASE OF OUR LANDS. 

 

AS WE BELIEVE YOU ALL KNOW, THERE ARE COUNTLESS PARCELS OF VIRGIN LAND ALL OVER GHANA, WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA.


JUST A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD, THE SAGLEMI HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT APPEARS ABANDONED TO ROT IN THE SUN, AFTER HUGE INVESTMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S MONEY AMID GREAT FANFARE.

 

WE ARE HUNDREDS OF LANDOWNERS IN DAWHENYA. TOGETHER WITH THE FAMILIES FROM WHICH WE LEGALLY ACQUIRED OUR LANDS, AND SUPPORTED BY OUR PARAMOUNT CHIEF AND ELDERS OF THE AREA, WE STAND TOGETHER TO URGE THE GOVERNMENT TO LEAVE US IN PEACE TO DEVELOP OUR PROPERTIES.

 

FURTHERMORE WE APPEAL TO  GOVERNMENT, TO INSTEAD ASSIST OUR COMMUNITY BY ENSURING ACCELERATION OF THE PROVISION OF   ELECTRICITY AND WATER TO OUR COMMUNITY BY THE RELEVANT INSTITUTIONS

 

THE THREAT AND INTIMIDATION BY MINISTER MR. KWAKU ASOMAH-CHEREMEH IS CAUSING NEEDLESS TENSION, FEAR AND PANIC IN OUR COMMUNITY.

 

PLEASE STOP THE INTIMIDATION! 

WE ARE PEACEFUL AND LAW ABIDING CITIZENS OF GHANA.

HOWEVER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE RESOLVED TO DO ALL THAT WE MUST, TO DEFEND OUR PROPERTIES AND OUR COMMUNITY WITH EVERY MEANS AT OUR COLLECTIVE DISPOSAL. IF NEEDED, WE WILL AVAIL OURSELVES OF EVERY POSSIBLE FORUM, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TO ENSURE THAT JUSTICE IS NOT ONLY DONE BUT SEEN TO BE DONE IN THIS MATTER.

 

GOD BLESS OUR NATION GHANA, AND EMPOWER US TO RESIST OPPRESSORS ' RULE.

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

Response from Mr. Kwaku Asoma-Cheremeh. Copied from Ghanaweb


Following our press briefing, Mr. Kwaku Asoma-Cheremeh reacted: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Dawehnya-divisional-council-bares-teeth-at-land-ministry-887767


The landowners, who are part of an Association, have been developing the land for almost two decades, and are appealing for some consideration by the state.---The Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Alhaji Sulemana Mahama