OPEN LETTER: H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Take Notice—Do Not Allow Wealth and Legal Might to Erase Ghana’s Sacred Heritage in Tegbi-Kpota

An Urgent Appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief to Halt Environmental Terrorism, Permit Fraud, and Elite Intimidation Under the 'Resetting Ghana' Agenda

An Assault on Heritage That Tests the Rule of Law

Your Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and all Honorable State Ministers:

We write to you from the frontlines of an ecological and cultural crisis in Tegbi-Kpota, Volta Region. A towering, 200‑year‑old Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra)—a living monument of our pre-colonial history, a critical carbon sink, and a sacred ancestral sanctuary—has been brutally felled. This was not the work of storm or decay, but the calculated act of a wealthy developer, Mr. Bright Oneal Fiagbey, who sought timber to construct a private mansion.

This is not a simple private land dispute; it is a direct test of the rule of law and community protection under your administration. When confronted with regulatory enforcement, the developer immediately retained a veteran, high-profile litigation counsel, E.A. Vordoagu, Esq., effectively attempting to shield statutory violations behind legal technicalities and wealth-driven intimidation. This calculated destruction was executed via systemic permit deception, deliberately misrepresenting a protected sacred site to public officials.

Your Excellency, as you lead the nation under the "Resetting Ghana" governance agenda, this flagrant display of impunity cannot be countenanced. If a wealthy citizen can deploy legal might to override heritage, statutory law, and community borders, then our conservation laws are rendered meaningless. We appeal to your high office as Commander-in-Chief to take immediate notice and issue executive directives before the remaining three ancient guardian trees are lost forever.

The Chronology of Destruction and Legal Escalation

The threat to the remaining grove at Tegbi-Kpota is immediate, systemic, and fully documented. The timeline of events establishes that the developer acted with clear prior intent and that the affected community and family completely exhausted all peaceful avenues before involving state authorities:

A History of Premeditated Trespass: Local records confirm this is a repeat offense. The developer attempted to fell these exact heritage trees two to three years ago but was successfully challenged and stopped by vigilant local stakeholders. His recent actions prove a calculated, long-term intent to destroy the grove at all costs, regardless of prior warnings or community boundaries.
The Unlawful Felling: Having bided his time, Mr. Bright Oneal Fiagbey returned to execute his plans, successfully cutting down the first ancient, protected Kapok tree to secure construction timber.
The Greater Looming Threat: Following this destruction, the developer openly and aggressively declared his unwavering intent to fell the remaining trees, completely disregarding traditional taboos, ecological risks, and direct communal pushback.
Administrative Deception: In order to bypass local resistance, permits were requested under highly misleading descriptions, deliberately misrepresenting the ecological and sacred nature of the site to regulatory officers who were kept in the dark.
The Continuous Search for Peace: Demonstrating immense good faith despite this history of harassment, the local family and community leaders initially pursued an amicable resolution. They sent formal communications and offered avenues for dialogue and reconciliation to resolve the matter peacefully.
State Intervention and Interception: Following the failure of internal dialogue, a Forestry Commission officer fortunately chanced upon the active cutting site, immediately ordered operations to halt, and lawfully seized the logging crew's chainsaw machine. Official criminal and regulatory reports have now been filed with the Sogakope Police Service and the Forestry Commission Office.
Formal Engagement of Legal Counsel: Following these formal state interventions, Mr. Fiagbey acknowledged the legal nature of the dispute in writing on July 7, 2026. He has officially referred the family to his designated legal counsel, E.A. Vordoagu, Esq. (Abelemkpe, Accra), stating his commitment to due process through law enforcement and the courts. The family and the local community welcome this formal step and intend to hold his team strictly accountable under the full weight of statutory law and public visibility.

A Warning to Defense Counsel: The Flip-Flops and Lack of Due Diligence

As a senior litigation counsel, Mr. Vordoagu must properly advise his client and review his history of radical inconsistency. We place the following facts on record to expose the erratic character traits of the developer:

The Law of "Buyer Beware" (Caveat Emptor): The developer’s counsel must ask his client what due diligence he performed before purchasing this land. The ancient Kapok grove is vastly older than the boundary plot he bought. There is a profound, historical reason why this specific land remained completely untouched for over two centuries; no local citizen or developer showed interest due to its profound sacred and ecological protections. His failure to verify this basic fact is a severe professional oversight.
Rejection of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): Despite his recent letters claiming a desire for a peaceful resolution, the developer has consistently rejected legitimate opportunities for dialogue. He has acted in a flip-floppy, deeply inconsistent manner, demonstrating that his sudden interest in "due process" is merely a stalling tactic to avoid criminal exposure.
The Admission of Guilt: To expose his dangerous inconsistency publicly, it must be noted that approximately three months ago, Mr. Bright Oneal Fiagbey voluntarily proposed and offered to pay a reparation sum of Thirty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH₵ 30,000) to cover traditional restoration and community restitution. Having openly acknowledged his wrongdoing by offering financial compensation, his sudden retreat behind legal shields is a bad-faith maneuver. His litigation counsel should take notice: flip-floppers are dangerous characters to defend under the law, and his prior offer stands as a public confession of liability.

Why These Trees Matter: The Pillars of Value

1. Preservation of Customary Sanctity & the Legacy of Venyatame

Ancestral Gateways: In the Anlo traditional setup, these groves are irreplaceable ancestral portals. Allowing them to be treated as commercial timber erodes the cultural fabric protected under Article 26 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Sacred Well of Venyatame: This grove sits in direct spiritual convergence with Venyatame, the historic and deeply revered traditional well. Every single year in November, water must be fetched from this exact sacred well to perform the indispensable traditional ceremonies before and during the celebration of the Hogbetsotso Festival in Anloga.
An Assault on the Anlo State: Desecrating this specific landscape with heavy logging machinery does not just harm a single family; it disrupts the sacred rites of the entire Anlo State, threatening the spiritual integrity of our historic annual migration festival.

2. Ecological Guardians

Carbon Sequestration: The massive biomass of these 200-year-old trees sequesters significant amounts of carbon, acting as localized buffers against climate change.
Biodiversity Havens: The canopy provides critical nesting grounds and habitats for local bird populations, bats, and beneficial insect species.
Hydrological Stability: Deep root systems stabilize the local water table, shield the sacred Venyatame well from contamination, and secure topsoil to protect Tegbi-Kpota from severe seasonal flooding.

3. Economic and Local Assets

Sustainable Tourism: The grove and the neighboring Venyatame well possess immense potential for eco-tourism and cultural heritage tourism, bringing critical revenue to the district.
Cottage Industry: The seasonal harvest of natural kapok fiber supports local pillow, mattress, and textile artisans.
Traditional Medicine: The bark, leaves, and roots of Ceiba pentandra provide vital ingredients for indigenous healthcare and local pharmacopeia.

4. Constitutional and Statutory Protections

The Timber Resources Act: Commercial exploitation or destruction of heritage timber without proper, transparent allocation is strictly restricted under the Timber Resources Management Act (Act 547).
Constitutional Rights: Protection of community property and cultural environments is anchored in Article 18 and the Directive Principles of State Policy of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Judicial Precedent: Ghanaian courts hold clear precedents awarding substantial punitive damages against individuals who destroy trees of economic or cultural significance without lawful authority.

Immediate Recommendations and Urgent Policy Suggestions

We call upon your high office, Your Excellency, and all relevant state actors to execute the following emergency measures immediately:

Executive Protection Order: We request that the Office of the President issue an immediate directive to freeze any active logging or environmental clearance tied to this developer in the Volta Region, declaring the Tegbi-Kpota grove a protected national asset.
The Forestry Commission Headquarters: Must order the Sogakope District Manager to strictly maintain state custody of the impounded chainsaw machinery, resisting any administrative or legal pressure from the defense to release the instruments of this crime.
The Ghana Police Service: Must direct the Volta Regional Police Command to provide security oversight for the site, protecting the local family from corporate intimidation and enforcing strict criminal trespass charges under Act 29.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Must deploy an emergency team to assess the structural environmental damage done to the local water table around the Venyatame well, levying full restoration fines against the developer.
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture: Must move to document and gazette the ancient sacred groves and the Venyatame ritual well across the Volta Region, granting them total administrative immunity from private residential development.
The Anlo Traditional Council: Must take immediate customary notice of this defilement of a festival-critical ritual site, enforcing traditional sanctions and spiritual fines against the developer.

A Definitive Line in the Sand

Your Excellency, one ancient Kapok tree has already been reduced to stumps; three remain standing, vulnerable to further encroachment. If the state machinery remains silent, or if regulatory bodies allow themselves to be handled quietly by expensive legal counsel, future generations of Ghanaians will inherit a depleted landscape stripped of its history.

As the historic church hymn reminds us: “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be Thou our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home.”

Crime has no expiry date. Heritage has no substitute. Justice delayed is heritage denied. We trust that under your leadership as President of our Republic, you will prove that no individual, no matter how wealthy or well-defended, is above the heritage of our ancestors and the laws of Ghana. Let all stakeholders move into immediate defensive action.

✍ Atitso Akpalu
Family Representative & Spokesperson for Concerned Senior Citizens of Ghana

Teshie‑Nungua, Accra | [email protected]
Distributions for Urgent Action and Oversight: