Nungua lands issue to be resolved in court

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 (Back page)

THE controversy surrounding the alleged sale or otherwise of lands recently released by the government to the chiefs and people of Nungua will be determined at the High Court.
This follows a suit filed by Nii Odai Ayiku IV, as Nungua Mantse, against Trassacco Limited, an estate development company, and five others at the Accra High Court over the government’s handing over of Nungua farmlands to the Nungua Stool.
The disputed land, popularly known as the Nungua Farmlands, is situated between Oyibi, Santeo and the Mamahuna Stream in the Greater Accra Region.
Others joined to the suit are the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Lands Commission and Odehe Kpakpa King Odaifio Welentse III, to whom the lands were handed over on April 16, 2009 by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
The rest of the defendants are Numo Borketey Laweh, the High Priest of the Gborbu Shrine of Nungua and the Chief Registrar of Lands at the Land Title Registry in Accra.
The plaintiff is praying the court to restrain Trassacco Limited from developing or continuing to develop any portion of the affected land, which he claimed was unlawfully allocated to the company by Odehe Welentse III and Numo Laweh and their agents.
Plaintiff is also praying for an order for perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from interfering with the affected lands in any way until the final determination of the matter, an order for recovery of possession of the affected lands, as well as damages for trespass against any and all allottees of any portion of the affected lands.
He also prayed the court for an order declaring the transfer of any portion of the disputed lands to Trassacco Limited as null and void and of no legal effect.
The writ of summons was filed on behalf of the plaintiff by an Accra-based legal practitioner, Mr Bright Akwetey,
The plaintiff is praying the court to declare as null and void the handing over of the Nungua Farmlands to the Nungua stool through Odehe Welentse III and Numo Borketey Laweh, since the process was wrongful and contrary to law.
He is also seeking an order declaring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) executed in respect of the land on September 21, 2008 between the government and Odehe Welentse III acting as Nungua Mantse for the Nungua Stool as null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.
Nii Ayiku IV is urging the court to declare that Odehe Welentse III and Numo Laweh do not possess the authority to act for and on behalf of the Nungua stool for the people of Nungua.
He is also praying for an order restraining the Lands Commission and the Chief Registrar of Lands from registering any interest purportedly created and/or transferred by Odehe Welentse and Numo Laweh on any portion of the affected lands to any third party, among other reliefs.
The statement of claim averred that in 1940, the then government of the Gold Coast under Public Lands Ordinance of 1976, compulsorily acquired 2,570.05 acres of Nungua Stool Lands by certificate of title number 214/1940 for public purposes.
The plaintiff said in 1955, by an indenture dated December 16, 1955, the government ceded 945.827 of the land to the University College of Gold Coast for an animal husbandry project.
The plaintiff stated that the “Public Lands Ordinance, limited the use of public lands for public purposes only. Where, however, a public land is no longer required for the purpose for which it was acquired, the affected land is required to be returned to the original owners”.
Plaintiff asserts that while waiting to be offered the first option to re-acquire the lands in terms of Article 20 (5) and (6) of the 1992 Constitution, a publication in the Daily Graphic to the effect that the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in September 2008, had executed an MoU with Odehe Welentse by which MoU the minister proposed to hand over the Nungua Farm Lands to Odehe Welentse III.
It further stated that Odehe Welentse III was described as the Nungua Mantse in the said publication.
According to the plaintiff, on October 1, 2008, the GARHC determined that the plaintiff was the Nungua Mantse and that he was never destooled.
The plaintiff alleged that the new Minister of Lands and Natural Resources had caused unmitigated hardship, loss and deprivation to the people of Nungua by handing over the lands to Odehe Welentse and Numo Laweh, adding that, that hardship and loss could only be redressed by the court.
The plaintiff contended further that Odehe Welentse III was not the Nungua Mantse but an impostor who held himself out as such, adding that he, therefore, had no authority whatsoever to take custody of Nungua Stool Lands.
The plaintiff contended also that Odehe Welentse III and Numo Laweh were likely to register the affected lands or portions thereof in their own names, as well as in the names of members of their families at the Lands Title Registry.
The plaintiff stated further that the various public officers, bodies, institutions, politicians and other persons who were alleged to be beneficiaries of portions of the land in dispute were also likely to register the lands unlawfully allocated to them by Odehe Welentse III and Numo Laweh at the Lands Title Registry.
He said unless restrained by the court, the Chief Registrar of Lands would have no option but to allow the registration of the allottees of such lands as proprietors of same.
The plaintiff averred that the Nungua Stool would suffer immeasurable damage, loss, hardship and deprivation if the allocations made to various public officers, politicians and other persons, institutions and bodies were not nullified.