Family threatens open fight with Assembly for defying court order on "Alleged Stolen Land"
Abusuapanin Kwame Apenteng is appealing to Eastern Regional Minister, to ensure that justice is served to them as they have been robbed of their hard-earned sweat.
Joana Somiah 
Information gathered by Soiree News indicates, that there is heightened tension between the family of the late S. B Ofori, and the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly in Akropong, the Municipal capital in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The aggrieved family members and a section of the youth in Akropong have accused the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly of defying court orders to go ahead and start a project on a disputed land without using the right processes.
Information continued, that the Municipal Chief Executive has defied court order only to start a project on an alleged stolen land to which the court has prohibited everyone from working on the said land.
Moreover, on the 23rd day of July, the Akropong Circuit Court affirmed that no one should carry such an exercise on the land as the court placed an interim injunction on that piece.
The late S. B Ofori family (the rightful owners of the land) has placed an order of interim injunction against Sir George Opare Larbi, Mr Timothy Asiedu who re-registered the land at the Lands Commission to stop him and his agents, including the Akuapim North Municipal Assembly, from continuing any development on the said land but work is steadily in progress despite a court order.
According to the late S. B Ofori family, led by Abusuapanin Kwame Apenteng and Opanin Mark Yaw Agyei Ofori, who happens to be the rightful owner of the land, opined, that their forefathers under the auspices of the late S. B. Ofori acquired the land in the 1960s and they registered it in 2000 but surprisingly one Sir George Opare Larbi and his counterpart Mr Timothy Asiedu has Nicodemus re-registered the land in his name.
Due to this there is growing tension between the late S. B Ofori Family and Sir George Opare Larbi and Mr Timothy Asiedu, as the late S. B Ofori Family accused the Akuapim North Municipal District Assembly of unlawfully taking over their lands.
The court has duly injuncted the Assembly to stay off until the case is determined but the Assembly led by the MCE, Barima Asiedu Larbi, has defied the court directive and with impunity, they continue to work for close to three weeks now Abusuapanyin Kwame Apenteng narrated.
“We are really worried because, despite a court order, the Akuapim North Municipal Assembly is still working, so we want to know if some people are above the law?” Abusuapanyin Kwame Apenteng asked?
Workers are still busy on-site working despite the Court order being in force.
Some youth members in the Akropong township who spoke to the reported indicates they are not going to fold their arms and watch the Akuapem North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Barima Asiedu Larbi, forcibly take the said without using the proper procedure to acquire the land from rightful owners (the family of late S. B Ofori).
According to the youth, stealing of land, fraud has become rampant in and around the Municipality in recent times, creating insecurity in the community.
Meanwhile, when the Akuapem North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Barima Asiedu Larbi, was contacted on phone by some media personnel, he declines to comment on the matter saying “I don’t want to say anything on the land”.
Abusuapanin Kwame Apenteng is appealing to Eastern Regional Minister, to ensure that justice is served to them as they have been robbed of their hard-earned sweat.
Background of the Land
The parcel of the land is situated at Akropong, measuring acreage of 9.73 acres and the subject of a deed of gift registered at the lands commission, Koforidua with Land Registry Number 1556/2000 and bounded by the Mamfe – Akropong roadside on one side.
In the early 1960s, the late Mr S. B Ofori purchased the land in dispute from one Okyeame Asiedu and Abena Korkor and several other adjoining lands to form a 12-acre parcel of land for farming purposes.
According to Abusuapanin Kwame Apenteng, the late Mr S. B Ofori planted foodstuffs and later converted the farm into a palm plantation which still exists on the land but the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly has destroyed all the palm trees and other crops on the said land only to paved way for the ongoing project on it despite court injunction on the land.
When S. B Ofori died, he was succeeded by one Alfred Anaafi Sakyi who in turn gifted the said property to the family and children.
William Ofori Akwaboa, Eastern Regional Correspondent
