Editor of the Informer Newspaper, Andy Kankam has said that Ghana cannot be blamed solely for the demolition of the facility by the Nigerian High Commission because the Commission acted in bad fate by starting the building project on the land.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning show, he stated: “There has been a meeting between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian High Commission on who has title to the land. The meeting is still ongoing only for the Nigerian Government to go and be building on it. It is dangerous, in diplomatic relations, that when you are in resolution on a matter with another party, you go outside that resolution to take action. And I think it is unfortunate that whilst they are trying to settle the matter, the Nigerian Government through their commissioner here is building on the land. I pray that the matter is resolved.
The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister is the one who has been chairing this meeting between our Government and that of the Nigerian High Commission to have the issue resolved. The Nigerian High Commission promised that they will present their documents to the land. But they didn’t submit it only for the Ghana Government to realize that a building is going on”.
He noted that while the Nigerian High Commission has acted in bad fate, the demolition act must also be condemned as it sets the tone for a diplomatic brawl between the two countries.
“I believe that per the current dispensation, globalization has made us know or see that we must depend on each other and it is about networking. So I have been following the story. It is unfortunate that it happened this way”, he added.
He explained that every land leased to the Government has original owners known as the alluvial owners and if there is no development on the land, it is required that Government returns the land to the original owners. He thus revealed that from his checks, the alluvial owners of the land have taken over the land.
In a statement by the Paramount Chief of Osu, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, he clarified that the said land belongs to the Osu Stool and not the State. The statement alleged that a previous structure on the said land was destroyed while a new one was erected by a supposed Nigerian businessman with support from the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana.
Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI insisted that the foreign office of the Commission had not purchased any parcel of land from the Stool or the Lands Commission. He also said the trespasser had failed to honour the Council’s several invitations for a discussion on the ownership of the land.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah