Trader demands rent arrears form Commandos

Accra, Oct. 20, GNA - Madam Matilda Asiamah, a Trader, on Monday appealed to the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to collect the 19 years rent arrears owed her family by the then Castle Commandos for taking over their Roman Ridge residence in 1982.

She said the Commandos stayed in the building in spite of a directive from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in 1997 that the house should be released to the family. The Witness said their residence was confiscated to the state in 1982 during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime, adding that in spite of the notice from CHRAJ in 1997, the house was given back to them in 2001.

Madam Asiamah, who stood in for her mother, Agnes Adutwum, owner of the house, said when the building was finally handed over to them, the fence wall was falling apart, all the louvre blades were off and had been replaced by plywood, toilets were in bad shape and outstanding water bill was 2.5 million cedis among other things.

She said her family had employed a contractor to renovate the building adding that they had so far spent 85 million cedis on it and called on the Commission for a refund.

Madam Asiamah said on October 2, 1982, barely a week after the family heard on radio that their house including 14 others had been confiscated to the State for building on government land, a group of armed soldiers and Policemen came to the residence and forced them to vacate the premises.

She said when they tried to resist by showing the soldiers the documents covering the house, she and her siblings were severely beaten up whilst their father looked on helplessly. The Witness said her brother, George Dodo later died as a result of brain injuries he sustained when the soldiers hit his head several times with the butt of their guns.

She said because the family was not given ample time to find a better place to transfer their movable property, they kept it in an uncompleted building at Sukura in Accra adding that all the items were later stolen.

Madam Asiamah said members of the family were scattered after being ejected from the house adding that her elder brother, Francis Dodoo, 46 years, travelled to Lagos, Nigeria and had become a drug addict currently sleeping on benches at Tudu in Accra.

She appealed to the Commission to help to rehabilitate him.