The Director of Operations at the presidency is in land tangos with many expatriates and organisations.
Lord Oblitey Commey despite facing contempt charges in court, last Saturday, 14 September, this year, allegedly commandeered his boys to go and commence development on the land he is in court with an expatriate company over.
The Director of Operations is squaring it off in court with Sinocom Development Communication Technology Ghana Ltd, over ownership of the parcel of land situate at Tse Addo at La in Accra, behind the Ghana International Trade Fair and covering an approximate area of 3.35 acres or 1.35 hectares, which he allegedly ordered his men to pull down and destroyed properties that were being developed on it.
The Inquirer gathered that it was in lieu of the tussle that the court issued a restraining order against the Plaintiff, Intertec Iconic Enterprise Limited, on 24 July, this year, saying that “its Directors, agents, privies, assigns, workmen and all persons claiming through it are restrained from entering, interfering with and or developing the subject land pending the determination of the issues raised in the ruling.”
Also on April 25, 2024, some persons believed to be land guards were led by Mr. Hampton, Tsotso, and Mr. Razak into the Tse Addo construction site of the company and forcibly evicted construction staff and proceeded to dismantle completed construction works.
This development brought to halt the huge investments being made into the construction of housing units for potential buyers.
The exercise by these persons according to information was under strict supervision of the police, military, and national security, who led the land guards to barge into the premises and forcibly evict construction staff after which they dismantled and destroyed all concrete foundations and pillars that have been erected for multiple houses under construction.
The company considering the significant financial loss petitioned the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr. Arhin Kwasi Annor over the disturbing incident.
The company through its lawyers, LAW GROUP, stated that the incident appeared to have its origin in a contentious dispute over the ownership of the land and noted that, Mr. Hampton, Tsotso, and Mr. Razak have IN June 2023, trespassed on the property prompting the intervention by law enforcement agencies.
“Regrettably, they failed to produce verifiable documentation substantiating their claim to ownership of the land, while our client was able to furnish incontrovertible evidence supporting their rights,” the lawyers stated in the petition.
These individuals, Mr. Hampton, Tsotso, and Mr. Razak subsequently returned onto the land in November with what the company described as “forged land certificate,” to halt ongoing construction work but despite these efforts, the company persisted in its operations.
The persistency of the intruders to illegally take over the property led to legal proceeding initiated before the Accra Land High Court.
It was evident in the petition that the Lands Commission launched investigations into the alleged fraudulent registration of the land title and produced a verification report to the company on March 19, 2024.
In spite of all these, Mr. Hampton-led group in flagrant disregard to the rule of law, refused to await the outcome of the ruling scheduled for May 2, 2024 and stormed the site in the company of some individuals holding themselves as national security personnel wantonly destroyed all structures erected on the site.
The company through its lawyers petitioned the Regional Commander to intervene and halt the ongoing unlawful damage on the land and to also initiate a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
However, following the petition to regional police command, a police team was sent to the site yesterday, Wednesday May 1, 2024 to arrest his (Mr. Hampton) workers on site.
The police team arrested the workers but just before police team left, Mr. Hampton showed up at top speed with siren to the site and threatened to kill the police.
He challenged the arrest claiming the land was his own land and the Police demanded he brings his documents or send same via a 3rd party to the regional command.
Mr. Hampton, who was acting on the authority from ‘above’ did not give a damn to the request by the police but rather, protested saying the land was his own and not even the president can take it from him.
He was violent towards the police who left the scene with the arrested workers and went back to regional command.
Mr. Lord Commey has been served a Substituted Service to appear in Court on Contempt charges. Tongues are however wagging as to whether the big government official would report to the court or not.
