Ministry complies with court directive

By William Yaw Owusu .

Saturday, 20 May 2006
FOLLOWING the seizure of four of its cars on Thursday morning for non-compliance with a court order, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has given an undertaking to pay the compensation to nine farmers within two months.

In a letter signed by its Director of Finance, the Ministry accordingly requested that the cars be released as early as possible, to enable its officials go about their duties.

MOFA had failed to comply with a court order to pay ў513 million and another ў450 million as compensations to nine farmers, from Akim Batabi in the Eastern Region whose lands were acquired by government in 1983 for a livestock development project.

When contacted, Mr Yaw Oppong, counsel for the farmers, told the Times: “I have received an undertaking to that effect but I have to seek the consent of my clients before I can respond to it.”

The facts are that in 1983, the government acquired 774.15 acres of land at Akim Batabi, near Oda, for a livestock development project but failed to compensate some of the land owners.

The affected land owners then pursued the matter at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) where the Land Valuation Board was asked to assess the land in question. CHRAJ then asked MOFA to pay what was due the farmers but it refused.

The matter was therefore taken to the Oda High Court in March, this year where a default judgment was entered in favour of the farmers because MOFA failed to enter an appearance.

A copy of the judgement was served on MOFA but it failed to go to court to set it aside and contest the matter.