Plaintiff With No Permit Paid Compensation

The inability of the Attorney-General�s (A-G�s) Department to defend a case in which the plaintiff had no permit to build on a piece of land belonging to the Ghana Railway Company in Kumasi has cost the country over GHc1.4 million in judgement debt. Even though the plaintiff, David Osei Dankwah, did not sue the state but rather a regional director of the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and neither did he file the suit in the name of his company but in his personal capacity, the court awarded the default judgement in favour of the plaintiff. These facts were revealed at the Judgment Debt Commission sitting on Wednesday when officials of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, the Ashanti Regional DUR and the Ashanti Regional office of the Town and Country Planning Department took turns to respond to queries bordering on judgement debt payments. A not-so-impressed Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau, expressed strong reservations about the whole episode. According to him, it was unfortunate that although the A-G�s Department entered appearance in the case, it failed to follow up to defend it, resulting in the court entering default judgement in the case against the state. �He (plaintiff) had no permit to develop the land in the first place. If you have no permit, you have no right to compensation,� the commissioner said. Background Mrs Joyce Afukaar, the Kumasi Metro Director of the Department of Parks and Gardens, told the commission that Mr Danquah had attempted acquiring a building permit from the Kumasi Planning Committee in 2003 but his request was rejected. She said Mr Danquah�s application was prepared for the Kumasi Planning Committee but in August 2003, a letter from the Ministry of Ports and Harbours sent to the Local Government Ministry and the Ministry of Science and Technology ordered all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to freeze the registration process and the issuance of development permits until further notice. According to her, the letter indicated that the reason was that the ministry wanted to investigate all railway lands leased to individuals. Mrs Afukaar said subsequently, the process for granting a permit to Mr Danquah was suspended because of the directive. She said even though the directive was not lifted, Henry Miller Complex Limited built its structure on the land. Mr Felix Abaka Quansah, the Kumasi Metro Engineer, confirmed that the assembly demolished the structure because its owner had no permit. He, however, stated that the assembly did not hear of the legal suit until the assembly was subpoenaed. According to information available to the commission, Mr Danquah went to court in 2008 to obtain the GH�1,418,151.76 default judgement. Giving the DUR side of the story, the Ashanti Regional Director of the department, Mr Theodore Quaye, said at the time a contractor working on a footbridge at Adum also delayed commencement of work. He said when work started on the footbridge, Mr Dankwa was warned on several occasions about his construction works, which had taken the space for part of the bridge where the physically challenged and the aged would use. The property was valued at GH�120,000 by the Ashanti Regional Land Valuation Office but when it came to Accra, it was reduced to GHc40,000. Asked why the demolished structure was valued when it was obvious that its owner did not have a permit, he said since Mr Dankwa had a lease, the reasoning was that he had a right to the land. To that, Justice Appau said one could have a lease, but without a permit, the land could not be developed. Mr Quaye admitted, with the benefit of hindsight, that the valuation should not have been done. Commissioner speaks Justice Appau expressed worry at the fact that the A-G�s Department failed to go to court to pursue the matter. �The A-G should have gone to court to bring up all these issues. First, the suit was not properly instituted because it was in his name, instead of the company name. The lease had been given in the name of the company and so it was only the company that could sue. �Secondly, he sued Mr Amoh Godried in his personal capacity and not the urban roads. He sued the A-G and the A-G�s office in Kumasi should have gone to court. They should have gone to court with all these facts but they didn�t. It is unfortunate but it has happened,� he said.