The Odai Ntow Customary Land Secretariat which administers the Odai Ntow family lands in Kwabenya, Ashongman, Agbogba, Dome, Haatso and Katapor on Tuesday cautioned all persons and families trespassing on its lands to desist from doing so or face their wrath.
At a press conference held to set the records straight on what the family deems misrepresentations and falsehoods being peddled by some persons about the true extent of the Odai Ntow lands, the Secretariat called out the Swaniker, Nii We, Nii Kofi Appenteng and Nii Ngleshie Addy families for unlawfully appropriating lands belonging to the Odai Ntow family despite numerous court judgements against them.
Flanked by elders of the Odai Ntow family, Nii Ayidzaku Tackie, a member of the family took the press through a number of judgements the family has won since 1904 through the 1980s to as recent as a May 2023 Supreme Court decision all affirming the Odai Ntow family’s allodial ownership of some 22,000 acres of land in Kwabenya, Ashongman, Agbogba, Dome, Haatso and Katapor.
According to Nii Ayidzaku Tackie, “the Odai Ntow family are owners of lands situate, lying and being at Ashongman, Kwabenya, Agbogba, Dome, Haatso, Katapor and others as per judgment of His Honour Sir Brandford Griffith Knight, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast in 1904 in suit entitled A. Bosumpim and Others vrs Martei and Others as well as judgment in suit entitled Peter Mensah Anteh vrs Simeon Aryeetey G.S. Okine and Another in Suit No. L 554/1978, delivered on the 30th January, 1980 by His Lordship Justice K.A. Agyepong of blessed memory.
“By the combined effect of the 1904 and the 1980 judgments, the Odai Ntow family has a total land of approximately 22,000 acres/8,903.08 hectares.”
Despite the certainty of the acreage of the family’s land, Mr Tackie accused the Lands Commission of working with some of the aforementioned families to re-demarcate its lands in favour of those families contrary to court judgements.
“The land commission, its staff and some unscrupulous persons have been perpetrating illegalities and fraud by issuing registration certificates on Nii Odai Ntow lands to certain persons without recourse to the Odai Ntow family, who are the rightful owners of those lands. In some cases, binding judgments of the courts in favour of the Nii Odai Ntow family that have been plotted have been removed illegally and replaced with declarations by other persons who are not so entitled,” he protested.
Mr Tackie, who is the also the accountant at the Secretariat further stated that “the land commission has issued a registration certificate on a land that the Nii Odai Ntow family has obtained a judgment from the court and has plotted same (1980 judgment), to the Okaija Gbeke family, without lawful permission. All attempts to get the lands commission to cancel this illegal act has not been heeded.”
The Odai Ntow Customary Land Secretariat established in June 2013 and inaugurated by the then Administrator of Stool lands, appears to be running out of patience with what it suspects to be complicity between some persons at the Lands Commission and some trespassing families who are encroaching on the Odai Ntow boundaries. The Scretariat wants the Commission to obey the pronouncements of the courts and desist from engaging in unlawful acts which include the recent attempt on July 27, 2023 to re-demarcate the family’s land contrary to its long established boundaries.
The media briefing was called to “address certain illegalities and inaccuracies that are running in the media and of course, the public space. These are the purported resolution of Kwabenya land disputes as captioned by some newspapers and the illegal and contemptuous re-demarcation of Nii Odai Ntow family lands.”
The Secretariat served notice that it is taking steps to implement and execute the numerous that they have won till date.
“We wish to use this medium to inform the general public and all developers on our lands who are yet to regularize their documents or atone tenancy to the Nii Odai Ntow Family, to do so through the Nii Odai Ntow Customary Land Secretariat as early as possible. We therefore encourage all developers to cooperate with us when they see us in their vicinity,” the statement concluded.
