Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu & Belvy Ofori
Friday, May 30, 2014
It has emerged that owners of lands
taken by the government to set up the Trade Fair site have not been paid
compensation since the acquisition in the 1960s.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana
Trade Fair Company Limited, Dr. Ebenezer Erasmus Okpoti Komey gave a
mind-blowing testimony about how the facility has been under-utilized for years
when he appeared at the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of
judgement debts.
The ‘Commission of Enquiry into the
payment of Judgement Debt and Akin’ under C.I. 79 to investigate the frivolous
and dubious payments of huge monies to undeserving individuals and companies,
was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama after public uproar over the
payments in what has now come to be termed as Judgement Debts (JD).
Notable among them were payments made to CP (€94
million) and the never-ending case of GH¢51.2million parted to the self-styled
National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, both of
which many believed were dubious and frivolous.
Dr. Okpoti Komey, who was in a wheelchair due to ill
health, told Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau that the land had been valued
and all that was needed was for the Ministry of Finance to approve and issue
the cheques but it had never been done.
“The owners of the land have been pursuing us and that
is why I am sick. Maybe when the government is able to pay them, I shall get
well,” he said humorously.
He told the commission that in March 2006, the Lands
Valuation Division of the Lands Commission valued the property at
GH¢23.1million and in 2010 it was re-valued at GH¢37million and added that
since no compensation has been paid, they were unable to have what he called
‘lease head’.
He added that in November 2008, the Lands Commission
directed that an area of 127.60 acres be allocated to the Ghana Trade Fair
Company Limited for lease for 50 years when it was restructured to become a
limited liability company from an authority adding that “if the compensation is
paid we will see our way forward.”
Justice Apau then required from him about the status
of a recent announcement that some foreigners were coming to invest in the
company, but Dr. Okpoti Komey replied “that was just political talk,” for which
the Sole Commissioner also said “I like your frankness.”
The witness said that although the government turned
the authority into a limited liability company, the initiative “exists only on
paper” since the government over the years had neglected the facility.
He said since the government paid ¢280 million
towards the organization of Indutech some years back, nothing substantial had
come to them in terms of funds.
The CEO also said at one point a private company
called African Lake entered to operate an amusement park but it never materialized
even though the Lands Commission gave them a portion of the land which they did
not even pay for.
A legal practitioner Samuel R. Brempong also
testified and confirmed that his client Florence Tamakloe was paid ¢151 million
as judgement debt following a fatal accident caused by a policeman.
Anthony K. Kokroko, a legal officer at the Ghana
police Service, assisted by ASP Sheila Gyamfua Kessi also appeared and tendered
in evidence documents indicating notices of intention to sue the police.
He said some of the cases were pending in court and
could not explain further.
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