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ATTEMPTS BY an ardent member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, to develop a parcel of land belonging to the chief of Abuohia, a suburb of Kumasi, into stores have degenerated into violent clashes between the land owners and the estate developer. The NDC man, Kwadwo Kuma, aka Obolo, is said to be constructing the proposed 17-store-room edifice closed to the Kronom-Abuohia M/A school, for himself and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly without involving the Abuohia Chief, Nana Owusu Senyah. He is said to have been given the permission by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to build the structure on the lone plot of land used by the people of the area for their social activities especially funerals. Peeved at the development, the Abuohia chief, together with the traditional authorities of four other contiguous communities, last Sunday, January 8, 2012 used schnapps and eggs to invoke the spirits of five powerful streams in the area to strike dead anyone who would step on the land to put up the structure. The irate traditionalists invoked the deities of Antoa Nyamaa, Akyeamponmene, Bokumfuo, Owabi and Ofin rivers and streams to also strike dead the wives and children of anyone who would dare develop the site for stores without their approval. A member of the Abuohia royal family, Yaw Manu, who said the evil prayer last Sunday appealed to the gods to deal ruthlessly with any chief executive, city engineer, soldier, police officer, contractor, mason or labourer who would dare step on the land for construction work. The four other communities that supported the chief of Abuohia to pronounce the curses included Kyerase, Kronom, Kwapra and Kyekyere. The curses were pronounced barely two days after a violent clash had ensued between the feuding factions when the contractor came to the site in the company of armed police and military personnel to begin construction work. While royals of the Abuohia stool reportedly resisted attempts by the NDC supporter to create the profile for the project to commence, Kwadwo Kuma and his people including the security men removed chairs and canopies erected on the site for a funeral. Opanin Kwaku Kra, aka Mr. Cat, a royal of the Abuohia stool, told DAILY GUIDE that in December, last year, the Abuohia chief, Nana Owusu Senyah petitioned KMA Chief Executive, Samuel Sarpong, against the construction of stores on the land reserved for social activities. He said when the traditional authorities first noticed some construction works being executed at the site by Kwadwo Kuma, he was confronted during which he stated that he was erecting a fence wall around the Kronom-Abuohia M/A school on the authority of the KMA. According to the petition, as part of the terms of the contract, the NDC man was to construct the stores in the open space reserved for social activities of the community for rental and the proceeds used to defray the cost of construction. Opanin Kra explained that the land did not form part of the school land, stressing that the construction of the stores would deprive the community of a place to organize such social activities. The land owners are thus threatening instituting a legal action to place an injunction on the proposed development of the parcel of land. Meanwhile, efforts to reach the KMA boss, Samuel Sarpong, the contractor, Kwadwo Kuma, and the City Engineer for their comments were unsuccessful as their mobile phones were either switched off or out of coverage area.