Help Us Reclaim Our Land ― Church Tells Police

The Leadership of the Word of Life Gospel Church, Ghana, has appealed to the law enforcement agencies―especially the police, to help them reclaim a piece of land that has been illegally ‘snatched’ from them, by an estate developer, Mr. Samuel Kofi Diameh, who had encroached on their land, despite a High Court’s injunction on it.

The church had asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. David Asante-Apeatu and the Manet Police to intervene in the matter since all legal efforts by the church to persuade the developer to respect the court order, had proven futile.

The church had further extended its appeal to the Office of the President as well as the Interior Minister.

The Dispute

Narrating the church’s ordeal at a press conference in Accra, Director of the Church, Mr. Emmanuel Anane Boate, said the church, in 2014, acquired a 4.2-acre parcel of land at Okpoi Gonno, opposite the Manet Police Station at Spintex, in Accra, but three years later, a contending party surfaced and pulled down walls it had erected round the property.

“We reported the matter at the Manet Police Station and raised another wall, but in August 2017, the new wall was again completely pulled down,” he said.

He said after a legal battle that lasted almost a year, the developer was asked to cease all activities on the land, pending the final determination of the law suit, but to their surprise, the defendants had failed to pack out from the disputed land.

Failed system

The church bemoans the seemingly weak linkages between the Courts, the Land Commission and the Ghana Police Service in matters bordering on of enforcing of court orders and or judgements involving land acquisition and ownership in Ghana.

“As of now, the only way to enforce court orders is to employ illegal forces or rely on the menace of vigilantes or land guards,” the Reverend said regrettably.

The weak linkages, according to him, has generated a class of corrupt and powerful individuals who exploit people―including law-abiding Ghanaians.

“By the time the rightful owner obtains justice from the courts, a storey building would be standing on the disputed plot,” Mr. Boate said.

The Word of Life Gospel Church therefore made a clarion call to all stakeholders, to as a matter of urgency, plug the gaps in the law enforcement in the land acquisition sector.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]