Residents, military in face-off

Lieutenant General Peter Augustine Blay, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

Occupants of the defunct Kumasi Shoe Factory at Atonsu-Agogo are   expected to battle it out with the military over what they see as attempts by the top hierarchy of the Ghana Armed Forces to forcibly evict them from the premises of the factory.

Reports available to The Chronicle reveal that the occupants, who are mainly former employees of the defunct firm, which is now in the hands of the military, are not happy with the arbitrary strategy being employed by the Ghana Armed Forces to compulsorily eject them from their legally occupied bungalows.

The residents are, therefore, calling on the government, through the Ministry of Defence, to intercede on their behalf, by calling on the Ghana Armed Forces to adopt a more humane approach to the eviction exercise.

According to the occupants of the factory premises, they would require some time to find alternative accommodation, since most of them had been occupying the place all their lives, as former employees of the firm.

They argued that they were not squatters, as was being claimed by the military, because they were legal tenants, who used to pay rent until the government decided to divest the company in 2007.

A spokesperson for the aggrieved occupants, who pleaded anonymity, said the military had warned them to vacate the area by Saturday October 6, 2011, or face forced eviction.

She said they had been warned by the military that the place would be barricaded and the entrance to the premises padlocked on Saturday, to prevent anyone from moving in or out of the premises.

The decision by the military to evict the tenants, most of who have occupied the area for the past 35 years, follows the takeover of the factory by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

Narrating their ordeal to the paper in an interview, the spokesperson said on August 12, this year, they sighted a signpost with the inscription 'All Residents Should Vacate with immediate effect,' placed right under that of Latex Foam Company Limited, current occupants of the factory.

Thinking that the notice was from the Latex Foam Company, because it did not have any identification, they did not pay particular attention until some soldiers showed up at the place, and allegedly knocked on the individual doors of occupants, threatening them to vacate or face the consequences.

She mentioned that a military officer again, held a meeting with some of the tenants, and told them that they should evacuate from the area by September 30, allegedly threatening that the military would not give them any more notice to leave, because they were squatters.

The spokesperson further added that though the military, through its Chief Public Relations Officer, was quoted in the media as having said the GAF had given the occupants until October 15 to leave the area, the new October 8 deadline had come as a shock to them.

They are, therefore, appealing to the government to come to their rescue, in order to enable them get enough time to prepare.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the occupants had initiated legal moves to get a court order to restrain the military from going ahead with the eviction exercise, until a compromise has been reached.

The defunct shoe factory is now in the hands of the Defence Industrial Holding Company, a section within the Ministry of Defence, which has decided to revamp it.