The era where unscrupulous individuals or members of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) could just use their own powers to undertake unauthorized demolition exercises; breaking down people’s buildings and structures without following legal procedures may soon seize, as the new Managing Director of the corporation, Ms. Alice Abena Ofori-Atta Esq. has issued a stern directive to all heads of departments to as a matter of urgency, halt such exercises.
The directive comes after a recent demolition exercise which was undertaken around Adjei Kojo industrial area, where occupants who had genuinely acquired lands in the area had their buildings and other erected structures destroyed by some members of the TDC led by one Thomas Tobil.
“They did not just collapse our buildings, they also broke down the entire wall we have built for years, I hear a certain Alhaji is behind it because he has interest in some parts of our land, and he managed to use a whole TDC to do this against us. We put in thousands of dollars to put up a building, and someone somewhere just wake up one day, get some boys from the TDC Taskforce, to break it just like that,” One of the affected occupants bemoaned in an interview with this reporter.
In a petition filed by one David Nuamah, on behalf of Jonathan Boadi Obeng and Millicent Nana Akosua Yeboah (currently not in the country), owners of one of the affected properties measuring about 0.46 acres in the area, on the 11th of October 2023, some uniformed members of the TDC Taskforce led by Thomas Tobil invaded their premises, called one of his bosses, and within few minutes they had broken down the entire wall protecting their land, and again threatened a comeback; to burn other machines and equipment on the land.
A week later, according to the petition, Thomas Tobil, with his team again stormed the place to demolish some portions behind the fence wall.
Again on 29th of November, Thomas Tobil with his team finally fulfilled their threat; destroyed everything that was left on the land, causing us about $75,000”, another part of the petition read.
When Thomas Tobil was contacted by this reporter, he earlier denied his involvement in the entire demolition exercise, until he later claimed he was only involved in the subsequent exercises and not the earlier one.
Asked who sent him, he mentioned one Robert Nii Naah Ayittey, TDC’s Development Manager, to be the one behind the entire demolishing.
However, all efforts; through calls, text and WhatsApp messages to get the TDC’s Development Manager, Robert Ayittey, for his take on the story has proven futile.
Stay tuned.
