Home owners at Magna Terris Estate face eviction over ‘loan’

Some home owners at Magna Terris Estates located at Dawhenya in Accra are on the verge of losing their homes because the estate owners used their houses as collateral for a GHc4 million loan contracted from Stanbic Bank some five years ago.

The estate owner, identified as Pastor Joseph Kwesi Bonful defaulted on the loan repayment leading to a court order that about 34 houses plus over 12, 000 acres of land belonging to Magna Terris to be taken over to defray the debt.

The residents have since initiated a court action to appeal the court's decision.

Citi News visited the estate to get the true situation on the ground.

Magna Terris was incorporated on October 21 2005 and received a certificate to commence business on 24th October 2005.

The company begun operations in early 2006 selling land to employees of corporate organizations.

Affected Residents
“I came home one evening and realized that there was a poster on my wall and I found out that it was a court writ between Magna Terris and Stanbic Bank saying this house shouldn't be given among others; I have been living here close to three years and I paid in full through Bank of Ghana in 2012,” Gloria Nyame Adu an affected resident told Citi News.

For Emile Jackson Adanuvor, the actions of the estate owner were untenable as he acquired the property even before the loan facility allocation from Stanbic Bank.

“I don't really understand how the notice is now being served on us; if you look at it we had even owned the property before he (the estate owner) went for the facility to even use the houses as collateral.”

According to him, owing to the fact that his property was acquired through Ghana Home Loans, he has officially notified them for an action to be taken because he is still serving the mortgage; meaning he is co owners with Ghana Home Loans until the full amount of the house is paid.

The Story is no different with Daniel Lamptey who is also an affected resident he tells Citi News, who got to know the situation whiles at work. He says the estate owner had informed that the he was owed by Bank of Ghana hence the recent court order.

He says a legal action has been initiated to get to a logical conclusion on the matter.

Court Injunction
As I walked through the estate I came across some homes with a court order that reads; “Stanbic bank Ghana limited –plaintiff and Magna Terris ltd as defendant whereas writ of FI dated at Accra the 4th of July 2016 has been issued under the hand of his at the instance of the judgment creditor; Stanbic bank gh ltd for the attachment of the movable and immovable property of the judgment debtor Magna terris ltd in the above mentioned suit the said judgment debtor is hereby prohibited from alienating the property below mentioned by sale, gift, or in any other way and all persons are hereby prohibited from receiving the said property by purchase gift or otherwise; that is to say, All that piece or parcel of land in extant 5,008 hectares (12,374 acres) more or less together with 34 houses thereon at Dawhenya in the greater Accra region , dated Accra 19thjuly 2016, signed by the registrar at the commercial division court.''

This notice seemed to have angered residents and home owners who are already are grappling with challenges with their home and general management of the estate.

Security
Aside the latest court case, residents of Magna Terris are worried about their safety.

From where I stand, I can even scale the wall and from what I gather, the estate owner is not in support of making the walls Any higher , any attempt to do so and he will break it down.

Victoria Omari whose house has been burgled twice seems not to be too enthused about the development within the estate.

“The Secuirity here is very horrible and we are exposed to so many risks; I have been attacked twice and the CEO never bothered to check on us so I had to consult my insurance guys who came in to fix my car and other belongings; he told us it was a gated community with water, electricity, everything so even when we moved in we were asking where the gated community was but that wasn't the case.”

“Quite recently we had armed robbery attacks on five different houses in succession around the same time; we have security men who just open the gates for cars to pass and because we are living here, we organised as an association to get our own security men to patrol but the Estate Owner stopped them; yet his gatemen do not patrol; they sit all day at the gate,” Richmond Oduro Kwarteng a distraught resident told Citi News.

Waste Management
Other challenges identified were water, and waste disposal. As at the time of my visit, a truck belonging to Waste Management Company Zoomlion had parked in front of the estate waiting on residents to bring their trash for disposal. According to the security men at the gate, they have been given 'orders from above' not to allow the waste truck into the estate; this meant that residents had to drag their bins from their respective homes to the gate before their trash can be cleared. This I was told had been the case for months.

Unfulfilled promises
With the numerous challenges with waste disposal, water, electricity, security and general peace of mind, most of the residents seem to be having second thoughts about living in the estate because almost all amenities such a school hotel, playground, police station promised by the estate has not seen the light of day.

Richmong Oduro Kwarteng tells Citi News, the issues in the estate is a big lesson when it comes to acquiring any form or property. ''Wherever you want to get a house, go there, get to know the situation before you even try to purchase the house because you never know.''

The residents also accused the Estate Owner of treating them like tenants because he seems to be in disagreement with every action taken by the association with regards to the estate management.

Meanwhile, all attempts to reach the Estate Owner, Pastor Kwesi Bonful for his comments has however proved futile.

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By: Lorrencia Nkrumah/citifmonline.com/Ghana