CHIEFS FIGHT TO RECLAIM LAND (MIRROR, PAGE 31)

From Akwasi Ampratwum-
Mensah, Sunyani

The Chief of Yawhimah, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Ansuh Ababio, and two others, Messrs Anane Boateng and Nicholas Kwasi Yeboah, have filed a writ at the Sunyani High Court against the government, demanding compensation in respect of their land at Kotokrom/Yawhimah.
The land in quesion was compulsorily acquired for the purpose of a shooting range for the 3rd Brigade Infantry (3BN) barracks in Sunyani.
Also joined in the suit filed through the Attorney-General’s (A-Gs) Department in Sunyani, is the Executive Secretary of the Lands Valuation Board in Accra as the second defendant.
The three plaintiffs argued that following the force with which their land was taken away from them, their crops were badly affected, but the second defendant, who was mandated by the government (first defendant) to pay for compensation to the plaintiffs, has refused to do so, despite persistent demands.
The plaintiffs are also praying the court to compel the defendants to obey any order it deems fit.
In their statement of claim, filed by Twumasi and Associates, a Sunyani-based law firm, the plaintiffs indicated that in or around 1972, the first defendant compulsorily acquired a seven-mile square land belonging to the plaintiffs and other farmers for the purpose of a Military Shooting Range for the 3BN, and that their cocoa and other cash crops were on the land.
They further stated that prior to the compulsory acquisition of their lands by the first defendant, the second defendant was mandated by the government to assess the cost of the crops belonging to the plaintiffs to enable it pay them appropriate compensation.
According to the statement of claim, the second defendant complied with the instructions by the government and that their names, sizes of their lands and the amount of crops affected were to be taken away by the second defendants, and crop compensation would be paid immediately.