Ningo-Prampram: Families accuse Lands Commission of aiding private developer to grab lands

Some families in Ningo-Prampram are accusing officials of the lands commission in Tema of conniving with a private real estate company Eson International to appropriate their lands illegally. The Maamanor, Kabiawe and two other families argue the commission has issued a land certificate to Eson for their lands without their input.

The families sold about 52 acres of their land to Sultan Real Estate Company. According to officials of Sultan Estate, the company bought about 52 acres of land in Ningo-Prampram from the Maamanor clan and through the registration process realized the land title is registered under the Kabiawe clan. Sultan estate and the Maamanor family consequently got the Kabiawe family to release the land. They wrote to the lands commission to register and grant land title certificates to Sultan estate.

During the process of registration, it appeared the land title is under the name of another company called Eson International Company Limited. Upon interrogation, Eson International Company limited claims the land was sold to them by the Kabiawe family. The Kabiawe family has however denied selling the parcel of land to Eson International Company Limited. The Kabiawe family consequently petitioned the lands commission in Tema to halt all processes that would lead to the granting of a land title certificate to the said ESON INTERNATIONAL GHANA LIMITED.

Despite the petition, the lands commission issued a certificate to Eson. The development led leaders of all 4 clans to storm the offices of the commission to register their displeasure.

The families accused officials of the land commission in Tema of conniving with the management of the real estate company to deprive them of their lands. They demanded answers as to who sold the land to Eson.

According to the Kabiawe family, scrutiny of signatures on the supposed lease document used by Eson to get the certificate from the commission revealed the signatories did not emanate from the said Nene Kanor Atiapah III, the then Head and Lawful Representative of the family, thus the document is fraudulent. The families single out Senior Land Administration Officer at the Tema Office of the Lands Commission, Emmanuel Akrobotu for a mention when it comes to their frustrations with the office.

Following the relentless push from the 4 families especially the Kabiawes, Eson released 800 hectares of the 1,300 hectares. The families are however pushing for the release of their lands in the entire enclave held by Eson. They contend the company never acquired the land from them.

A member of the Board of Directors of Eson International Ghana, Ellis Stanley-Owusu according to the family is now trying to negotiate after getting the lands registered in the company’s name without their knowledge.

During our investigation, it has come to light that prominent legal firms and politicians may have some involvement in the dealings as well. More details will be released in the coming days.

Source: thenewsroomonline.com