An Accra High Court is pursuing Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, who has been accused of frustrating legitimate land owners over their properties, for allegedly using his position as an excuse to continue dodging court proceedings to appear in the next hearing.
Nii Afotey Agbo was sued in Court for Contempt after he failed to respect a Court ruling which gave Kwadwo Boateng the chance to demolish structures on some stolen lands.
The Regional Minister, who was at the Land Court Division of the Superior Court for Contempt has been dodging hearings.
Kwadwo Asante Boateng sued them for obstructing and interfering with the due administration of justice and bringing the judicial process into disrepute, and for treating orders of the Court with extreme impunity.
Speaking to the Plaintiff, Kwadwo Asante Boateng in an interview, he said Nii Afotey Agbo continued to dodge court proceedings, using his position as an excuse. “Afotey Agbo has on several occasions failed to appear in court”, he said.
Kwadwo Asante Boateng however believes the inability of Afotey Agbo to appear in court is a tactics he had employed to frustrate him and to delay proceedings in court.
The Case as in court
An Affidavit in support of an order of committal for contempt of court was filed by Kwadwo Asante Boateng, against the Regional Minister and others over some three parcels of land, and pursuant to terms settlement duly executed and filed on 26, February 2013, before His Lordship Justice Alhaji Abdullah Iddrisu on 20th March 2013, entered consent judgment on basis of the terms of settlement as adopted and filed.
On 10th July 2013, he filed a Motion on notice for an order of Writ of Possession, which His Lordship Justice Bright Mensah granted and the writ of possession issued on 27th November 2013.
Kwadwo Asante Boateng stated that, on 28th November 2013, a letter from the Office of the Judicial Secretary signed by the Second Deputy Judicial Secretary, Samuel Boakye-Yiadom and addressed to the Director General of the Police Legal Directorate of the Ghana Police Service of a request to detail armed policemen to assist the Deputy Sherriff officers attached to the High Court execute the order for Writ of Possession.
He also noted that on January 10, 2014 the Regional Police Commander forwarded a copy of the writ of possession ordering demolishing of unauthorized structures on a parcel of land situated at Amrahia on his behalf to the National Security Coordinator and the Regional Minister.
According to the Plaintiff, Kwadwo Asante Boateng although this letter was forwarded to these people, (Defendants) with an articulate instruction that “the police had no option than to assist in the execution or else be cited for contempt,” the Defendants, including Afotey Agbo and Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, have flagrantly snubbed the letter and hence failed to allow the court order to be executed.
He also pointed out that in view of the delays with the execution of the court order, the writ of possession elapsed and he was compelled to file another motion ex-parte for an order to issue a writ of possession on November 7, 2014 which was also granted by His Lordship Justice Anthony Oppong.
Kwadwo Asante Boateng told this paper that, the defendants in the case, especially Afotey Agbo failed to assist in the execution of the court order since they did nothing to help with the execution of the writ of possession.
Meanwhile, some residents who are on the land told our news team that the frequent presence of land guards on the land, who are believed to be working for Afotey Agbo is making life unpleasant for them.
They also cited constant harassments from the land guards who most at times don’t allow people who acquired their lands legitimately from Kwadwo Boateng to develop their property.
Meanwhile information reaching this paper indicates that some government officials from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Flagstaff House, Ministries and some top police personnel have encroached on some disputed parcels of land at Amrahia in Accra belonging to Mr. Kwadwo Asante Boateng.
The fast rate at which the said land is being overtaken by these people is alleged to have been aided by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Afotey Agbo who has made part of his ministerial duties to be obstructing and interfering with the due administration of justice, which indeed recognized that the land truly belongs to Kwadwo Asante Boateng for which a demolition order was granted.
A visit to the land, which stretches from Baron Distilleries and covering about 160 acres, established that people who acquired parcels of land illegally from people including Afotey Agbo are fast developing their land with mansions even though all the structures being constructed are marked in red with a STOP WORK, PRODUCE PERMIT inscription.
When some team of journalists went to the site, contractors were seen busily mixing mortar and carrying out construction works on the various lands in question.
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