A Circuit Court in Kumasi is expected to hear a case in which a Canadian-based businesswoman, Rose Yeboah, has sued the Ejisu Municipal Assembly and its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Afrifah Yamoah Ponkoh on one side and the Ejisuhene, Nana Afranie Okese, on the other hand, for illegally pulling down her structure at Ejisu. The plaintiff is seeking amongst other reliefs, general and special damages against the defendants, for unlawfully destroying her property and an order for the three defendants to reconstruct the damaged structure, which houses her Cold Store business.
Madam Rose Yeboah is additionally praying the court for an order declaring that the Plaintiff is the legitimate owner of the one room Cold store at the Ejisu market and that the action by the defendants amounted to illegality. Mr. Yamoah Ponkoh was said to have supervised the pulling down and demolition of the building, two hours after the assembly had requested for a building permit from the owner of the store.
The plaintiff averred in her statement of claim copy of which has been made available to The Chronicle that she took possession of the said shop and started making renovations by installing new Deep Freezers. She said she was confronted by some assembly members about the structure and was subsequently served with a document, demanding that she produced permit covering the land.
The plaintiff further indicated that the said notice requested her to report at the office of the MCE to explain why Court action should not be instituted against her, but before she could respond to the notice, Mr. Yamoah Ponkoh and the Chief of Ejisu ordered the demolition of the store, an act which according to her, was illegal and premature.
Mad. Rose Yeboah told the paper that though she had all the necessary documents to certify the authenticity of the building, the defendants refused to give him a hearing, lamenting that she has suffered serious damages and lost huge profits as a result of the demolition.
She is, therefore, pleading with the honourable court to intervene and compel the defendants to justify their actions failure of which damages should be awarded against them. Meanwhile, Mr. Yamoah Ponkoh has acknowledged the receipt of the suit but declined to comment further on the matter when reached for his reaction on a local radio station in Kumasi yesterday.
According to him, he was not in any position to comment on a matter which is before the court but said the Counsel of the assembly was studying the case and would respond appropriately.
Source: The Chronicle
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |