A shot from when the police were arresting the land guards
The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team of the Ghana Police Service has swooped on and arrested ten land guards and construction labourers at Pokuase, a suburb of Accra on Friday, for trespassing on the 500 acre land belonging to the Otublohum Traditional Stool but which had parts of it appropriated by the erstwhile government for an affordable housing project.
The arrest by personnel from the Greater Accra Regional Police Command was in response to petitions and numerous complaints made by Nana Ansah Sasraku II, the Boundary Chief of the Otublohum Traditional Stool, concerning nefarious activities of very stubborn young men.
Reports alleged that the arrested individuals were operating under the express authority of one “Mr Tamale” and some faceless individuals from Abola Piam in Ga Mashi.
On the day, they had arrived at the Pokuase site equipped with bulldozers, excavators, and other heavy-duty construction equipment.
In an interview, it was alleged that the group of young men, numbering about fifty (50), had been terrorising and attacking residents of Pokuase and its environs who dared to question their motives in the area.
Nii Dodoo Akoto Oyeadieye I, Krontihene of Pokuase, told the media after the arrests on Friday that he is going to restore order in the traditional area.
He pledged to deal decisively with individuals involved in such illegal activities.
Nii Dodoo elaborated that in 1947, fourteen Otublohum families in the area were compulsorily made to cede 532 acres of the Otubland to the colonial government with the explicit purpose of establishing a piggery.
However, the government did not follow through with the plan and instead utilised parts of the land to establish facilities for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. (CSIR).
Nii Dodoo further asserted that, based on the amended Legislative Instrument (LI) 2378 – 2019, the government was obligated to return the land to its original allodial owners.
He argued that this reversion was due because fifty years had passed since the land was acquired, and the government had not used it for the intended piggery project.
Expanding on this, Nii Dodoo stated that the allodial owners had also unequivocally rejected the government’s proposal to use the land for an affordable housing project.
He emphasised that the previous Akufo-Addo administration had failed to engage the fourteen families from whom the land was compulsorily acquired by the government.
“The families were unanimous in their response when then Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, engaged them in 2023 and revealed the intention of using the land for an affordable housing project.
“Government should follow the law and return the land to the original owners and not dabble in controversies,” Nii Dodoo stressed.
Nii Dodoo also stated that following the new government’s assumption of office in January 2025, the fourteen families opted to pursue direct engagement with the new administration and that was when became clear that the former MCE and other government officials and party members had been given possession of various parcels of the said land at peppercorn rates.
Nii Dodoo explained that during their engagement with the new government, “Tamale” and his group unexpectedly emerged, claiming to be owners of the land.
He emphasised that this claim was unfounded, as “Mr. Tamale’s” group was not among the fourteen families who had originally ceded the land to the government in 1947 and had subsequently received compensation for it.
The fourteen families include Nii Dodo Kobla, Nii Nakwa II, Nii Kwaku Kwadjan, Nii Amu Ankra, Nii Odie Kojo, Nii Kpakpo Oti, DKB. Mensah, MDA Ankra, R Thomas Dodoo, Robert, Mangus Ankrah, Madam Ayikaiyeley Thompson, Benjamin Abotchie Ntreh, Virginia Pappoe, and Adjuah Nyarko.
The Ghana Police Service is currently taking the necessary steps to prepare the arrested individuals for their appearance in court.
