Appollonia Family Accuses Minister

Three leading families in Appollonia under the Katamanso Assembly in the Greater Accra Region have lambasted the Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo aka Lion, and accused him of meddling in a current chieftaincy dispute in the area.

According to the heads of  Bediako, Kojo and Sanshie Sackey families, the Minister had been providing tacit support for a faction that claimed to have installed one Nathaniel Tetteh as Nii Nuertey Amobi II as Mantse of Appollonia and whose installation was currently being challenged in court.

At a news conference in Accra jointly addressed by Nii Iddrisu Mansro, Numo Seth Gblie Nartey and Numo Seth Afum, the family heads alleged that the Minister was involved in the raging dispute.

'We would want the whole world to recognise that the Regional Minister has been deeply involved with these imposters not only in chieftaincy, but in sale of lands as well, whereby he directly supports them with soldiers in uniform to intimidate the entire township of Appollonia,' they alleged in their written statement to the media.

The leaders said the Minister's recent claim at the Regional House of Chiefs that the Dodowa District Police Commander, Superintendent Kwasi Ofori, was interfering in chieftaincy issues and sale of land in the area was 'wholly false and has no basis.'

They claimed that the allegation against the police officer 'was an attempt by the Regional Minister to get rid of the commander in order to have his way. The Minister has been the brain behind harassments at Appollonia together with some military personnel,' they further alleged.

According to them, Mr Afotey-Agbo had become a 'security threat' to the area by his actions, amidst claims by them that when the President transferred him to the Volta Region, there was relative peace, but when he returned, tension started mounting again.

They indicated that since April 12, 2000 the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal 5/99 had unanimously held that lands at Appollonia could only be alienated with the consent and concurrence of plaintiff's clan which constitutes the Bediako We, Kojo We and Sanshie Sackey We represented by their respective heads, saying, 'one of the accredited heads, Seth Gblie Nartey, is still alive.

'In very recent times, we have instructed various law officers to notify the Lands Commission about the process for the valid grant and alienation of lands in the Appollonia area, particularly with regards to the Supreme Court decision. Unfortunately, notwithstanding these correspondences, the Regional Minister still interferes with land alienation with the active connivance of some elements within the community,' they further said.

They alleged that a man called Damptey 'has received the blessing of the Regional Minister and they have succeeded in registering about 4,000 acres of land in the area to the extent of having a land title certificate'; but they were in the process of using legal means to expunge the certificate from the records at the Land Titles Division.

They said they were using the news conference to draw the attention of President Mahama of the happenings in the area, urging the President to crack the whip on the Regional Minister.

They said they were pursuing vigorously in court the case in which the National House of Chiefs, through the Regional House of Chiefs in Dodowa, gazetted Nii Nuertey Amobi II in spite of the pendency of a suit before the Kpone Traditional Council where his purported nomination, election and installation was being challenged.

By William Yaw Owusu