Woman Arrested For Claiming Ownership Of Government Lands

A bulldozer destroying the illegal structures

A bulldozer destroying the illegal structures A woman claiming ownership of Takoradi was Wednesday arrested on the orders of the Western Regional Security Council after she allegedly evicted an occupant of a state bungalow.

Besides evicting the occupant of the bungalow, the suspect, Hagar Nkrumah, is alleged to have expanded the bungalow into two six-bedroom apartments and also sold various portions of government land in Takoradi to unsuspecting persons.

The bungalow has been locked up, while the extensions have been demolished.

Out of the 50 land cases the Western Regional Lands Commission is pursuing in court, 30 of them are against Madam Nkrumah.

This came to light when officials of the Lands Commission, under police escort, Wednesday demolished a number of structures erected on government land in Takoradi.

Some of the structures demolished were completed, while others were at the lintel level.

Some of Madam Nkrumah’s victims allegedly got to know that the land sold to them belonged to the state when they presented indentures and lease documents given by the woman to the Lands Commission for registration and documentation.

She had reportedly told her unsuspecting clients that the state did not pay compensation to her family after it had compulsorily acquired the land.

The Western Regional Lands Officer, Mr George Frimpong, advised members of the public who had already fallen victim to Madam Nkrumah’s machinations to report their cases to the nearest police station.

He said before the demolition exercise, all their occupants were informed to move their belongings out of the structures.

Mr Frimpong explained that Takoradi and Windy Ridge areas had been acquired by the state in perpetuity under an arrangement known as compensation rental in which all proceeds from those lands were shared equally between the state and the landowners.

“The Takoradi acquisition comprises a total of three square miles and was acquired under the Takoradi Town and Harbour Acquisition of Lands Ordinance of 1921, while the Windy Ridge comprise a total of 174.854 acres acquired under a certificate title dated December 29, 1947,” he said.

He said it was, therefore, wrong for any individual to carry himself or herself as the lawful owner.

Mr Frimpong said the regional lands office was working with the Public Lands Protection Act 1974 which mandated it to provide protection against the sale or attempted sale of public lands, unlawful occupation of public lands and removal of trespassers.

He gave an assurance that the commission would do everything possible to ensure that in the face of the clamour for land in the region as a result of the discovery of oil, state lands were protected.