HUNDREDS OF Muslim youth from Ashaiman yesterday thronged the Jericho Islam School Park to protest against the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Numo Addison Addinortey, for attempting to develop the land for a different project.
The angry youth, wielding clubs, machetes and other offensive weapons, and amidst chanting of 'Allahu Akbar', meaning 'Allah is great', burnt car tyres at the four corners of the land.
The land in question already has a mosque, Arabic and English school, Mohammedian Mission School and three new blocks under construction for the Muslim women of the community.
Speaking with DAILY GUIDE at the scene, Alhaji Usman Abdul Hamid, Imam of the mosque on the land, said it was an insult to Islam that the only land released to them freely by the chiefs and people of Tema in the early 1960s for the development of Islam would be bought by the MCE.
He narrated that investigations by the youth at the assembly indicated that some of the Muslim chiefs in Ashaiman allegedly sold the land to Mr. Addinortey at GH¢170,000 for his personal use.
'The assembly members told us that the purchase of this land was never raised on the floor of the house in any of their meetings. Therefore, where is Addinortey coming from that he has bought the land for a GETFund project?' Imam Usman wondered.
He mentioned the name of a certain Umara aka Big Joe as the one who conspired with some of the Ashaiman Muslim chiefs to sell the land to Mr. Addinortey.
The agitating youth expressed readiness to fight tooth and nail to protect the land, explaining that if they let go of the land, Muslims would not have any field to hold their Eid prayers, as their Islamic schools and mosques would be demolished.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted Mr. Addinortey via phone, he confirmed that the land had been acquired by the assembly for a project that was expected to be funded by the GETfund, denying that he purchased the land for himself.
He alleged that some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) were hiding behind the youth to agitate against him and the government because the NPP, according to him, was jealous of the government's development achievements in the area.
He noted that a check by the assembly revealed that the land was acquired by a Malian, a resident of the area by name Mallam Kunta, who was late. He said realizing that the municipality lacked a lot of Government schools, the assembly decided to use the place for the construction of schools.
'What the assembly intends to do on the land is geared towards eliminating the shift system as well as improving upon the standard of education in the municipality,' Mr. Addinortey remarked.
Mr. Addinortey promised to go ahead with the development of the land irrespective of the tension the youth would create in Ashaiman. He added that the assembly would go to the land to cut sod for works to commence on it.
Mr. Addinortey, however, failed to disclose how much he or the assembly bought the land for from the Malian High Commissioner.
At the time of filing this story, the MCE was said to have failed to carry out the assembly's promise of sod cutting.
FROM Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar, Ashaiman
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