Abokobi Community appeals to IGP over land dispute

Accra, Feb.4, GNA - The residents of Abokobi, the Ga East capital, have appealed to the Inspector General of Police to assist in the enforcement of a court order involving the Abokobi and Berekuso communities over a parcel of land.

Mr Wilberforce Laate, a Senior Presbyter of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Zimmermann Congregation at Abokobi, told journalists at a media conference that on December 22 last year, the Community secured a court order restricting both communities from having anything to do with the said parcel land.

He said this happened because in August 2014, a former high court judge, John Ajet-Nasam, erred in ruling in favour of the Berekuso Community against the Church's land at Abokobi.

He said the said land at Abokobi was acquired by the Basel Missionaries more than 170 years ago, which lay below the Akuapem-Togo ranges.

The senior presbyter said the community knew something went wrong with the judgement but no one imagined that the judge was compromised until the Anas video came out.

"The implications of the compromised judgement thus left the lands that were acquired by the missionaries under siege with devastating consequences on both human and the environment," he stated.

Mr Laate said the court order to be enforced reads: "By court, it is ordered that both parties are to maintain the status quo as it exists today, December 22, 2015, until the determination of the injunction or the final determination of the suit."

He said the community was worried about the rapid rate of deforestation and its diverse effects on the environment.

"Our little forest cover and reserves are still being destroyed now," he said.

According to Mr Laate, the servants of the chief of Berekuso were still working on the land despite the court order and all attempts to seek the enforcement of the order with the assistance of the Ayi Mensah Police had proven futile.

He said even though the Police had asked both parties to stay away from the disputed land, the Chief of Berekuso and his people kept violating the order with impunity and the police look on unconcerned.

He, therefore, called for total adherence to the court order concerning the land till the determination of the case.

GNA