Illegal sale of Achimota School land: Old students petition President, Parliament

The Old Students' Association of the Achimota School is demanding Parliament’s intervention in the illegal sale of the school’s lands.

Comprising of over 1,500 old students of the school, the group on Tuesday also called on President John Mahama to express their aversion at the rate at which private estate developers and squatters were taking over the school's lands.

The group also made similar calls on Parliament, the Accra Metropolitan As­sembly (AMA), the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Chief Justice.

A member of the Association, Ernest Afram says the school is helpless in stopping the constant encroachment and is seeking the state’s intervention.

“All we know is, people are encroaching on it and you just need to drive through there and see…there are churches on the school farm.

“As old students we don’t know who gave them access, that is why are coming to the owner of the land – which is government. The Achimota lands were paid for; it’s paid for completely so it is land that is owned by government that is why we’ve come to government”, he said.

A representative of the group, Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe also said the petition process is a time- bound approach to mobilise support for change to social issues that affect all.

"Today, we the Achi­mota School Land Petition Group are using the petition process to highlight our concerns to those in author­ity about the loss of Achi­mota School land meant for future generations," Mr Armstrong-Mortagbe said.

He noted that the issue has been a longstanding one, but a recent reportage in the Ghanaian Times newspaper in July 2015 about a developer ordering teachers occupying two of the school's staff bungalows to vacate the buildings be­cause they had acquired it raised eyebrows.

"Clearly, such encroach­ment is outright theft, espe­cially by the well-to-do in our country; [it] undermines our nation's capacity to ex­pand educational opportu­nity for ordinary Ghanaians and to enhance the quality of teaching and learning for future generations," he said.

The Achimota School has been battling with en­croachment on its lands by private developers, individ­uals, business owners, churches and, recently, some displaced residents of Old Fadama (Sodom and Gomorrah).

These private developers and other encroachers have constructed residential and other buildings on the land in and around the Achimota Folly, Achimota school farm, portions of the Achi­mota land adjoining GIMPA, and on other lands that are in close proximity to students' boarding dormi­tories on the western com­pound of the school.

The petition requests those in government to place a moratorium on all land sales and illegal con­struction activity on Achi­mota School lands. It is also demanding security and the clear demarcation of the school lands, and an investi­gation into all sales and en­croachment activity on the said land.