TDC Demolition: Angry Torshie Descends On Ahi

A Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West has descended heavily on the Deputy Works and Housing Minister Samson Ahi for supporting a recent demolition exercise that has left thousands of residents homeless. Irene Naa Torshie Addo said the deputy minister must at least be fair to the people, whose votes have made him a deputy minister of state. The two collided on Joy News, Thursday, after a similar banter had taken place on the floor of Parliament the same day. Samson Ahi had supported the decision by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to demolish houses belonging to residents of Adjei Kojo, a suburb of Tema. He argued the TDC followed due process of the law before demolishing their houses. "When TDC realized that their land had been encroached they made the attempt to remove the people. The encroachers took the TDC to the High Court in Tema. In 2004, the High Court ruled in favour of TDC. That paved way for the TDC to embark on a massive demolition exercise in 2006" the deputy works and housing minister indicated. He said prior to that massive demolition exercise the encroachers went on appeal, which halted the process. "The matter run-up to 2008, where the Appeal Court again ruled in favour of TDC. So it is not true that the TDC did not engage the people," he stated. According to him, the TDC was even magnanimous in ceding about 900 acres of the lands to the encroachers. He said with the 300 acres left for the TDC, some residents again encroached on those acres leaving the TDC with no choice but to demolish the structures. His sentiments have been slammed by the Member of Parliament of the area, Irene Naa Torshi Addo, who described the Minister as being unfair and insensitive to her constituents. "I don't think the Minister is being fair to the residents; the people who voted for him to get power and to be a deputy minister. He has listened to the TDC but has not listened to the residents. I have listened to both groups," she said. While agreeing that the court ruled in favour of the TDC, she wondered what the Corporation did in 2008 when the residents were busy building the houses on the land. Even more disturbing, she added, was the fact that property rates were collected from the residents by state authorities, and they were connected to the national grid only for the same institution to turn around and demolish the houses. "From 2008 to 2014, what has TDC been doing; sleeping whilst people built houses. Who has been collecting property and penalty rates? How did they get electricity and water without any permit?" She asked. Naa Torshie Addo is convinced the TDC did not follow due process in demolishing the houses even if the land belonged to them. They should have secured a court permit before going ahead with the demolition or ought to have secured an injunction to stop the residents from building the houses much earlier, she noted. Meanwhile, Parliament has ordered an investigation into the demolition exercise.