Mahama Family And Friends Grabbing Ga Lands: La Youth, Elders Angry

The elders and people of La in the Greater Accra Region have renewed their fight against the Mahama government with a demonstration, yesterday, in protest against what they see as a systematic pillage of their lands by big people in and around government, including family members and friends of President Mahama.

The Coalition of La Youth Association that led the protest is particularly sad about the fact that their own brothers and sisters around and within the corridors of power have lost their voices relative to this critical issue affecting the Ga-Dangme people.

Independent investigations done by this paper show that the so-called family and friends of the Mahama administration, including Cabinet Ministers, are grabbing Ga lands left, right and centre.

The latest is the Accra Hearts of Oak Park, next to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum. Government has mysteriously, and compulsorily, acquired the land with the obvious aim to sell it for peanuts to a company set up by a person very much in the inner circle.

The Minister of Lands and Mineral Resources, Nii Osah Mills, is confronted with a legal battle for ignoring a court injunction to go ahead with a conveyance of huge parcels of land belonging to the Aviation Authority.

The beneficiaries are known to be at the very top of the presidency and this has not only angered the staff of Aviation Authority but the Ga Chiefs and people.

Another lucrative parcel of land that the "greedy bunch" have set their teeth into is the large chunk from the southern end of the Airport City which they intend to extend to cover all the piece of land covering the DVLA to Max Mart.

Then there is that large parcel of land which was owned by GIMPA and has now been claimed by a key player in and around the presidency.

Among the most sensitive pieces of land claimed by the Mahama family and friends brigade are the military lands behind the airport and next to Burma Camp.

The biggest casualty to this assault on Ga lands has been the Cantonments Area, which has seen about 70% of the state lands left sold off.

The Coalition of La Youth Association has accused the Mahama government of failing to sustain and consolidate the gains made by previous governments on Ga-Dangme land issues.

According to the group, the president and the NDC government have thrown caution to the wind and decided to roll back the gains made previously in ensuring that the Ga-Dangme people had control over their lands, and with the connivance of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Lands Commission, continue to steal Ga-Dangme lands.

A leading member of the group, Joseph Nii Mensah Ashong, yesterday told the Daily Statesman that they would never rest until they had stopped the “naked stealing of our lands.”

According to the group, even though the Mahama government is fully aware of the fact that the Ghana Armed Forces has arbitrarily stolen and destroyed farmlands, with the full support of Ibrahim Mahama, his brother, nothing was being done about the situation.