Stay-Off Shiashie Land�Lands Commission Warns Public

The Lands Commission of the Republic of Ghana has issued a strong warning to the General Public to stay-off the disputed Shiashie Lands and the Kotoka International Airport Area until the rightful owners of the land is determined by the High Court [Land Division]. The Lands Commission also dismissed an erroneous impression being created by certain mischievous persons that the Supreme Court decision delivered on the 22nd October 2013 declared the Apantse We Family of Shiashie to be the rightful owners of the said land is an absolute falsehood. A statement issued by the Acting Executive Secretary of Lands Commission also asked the police service not to entertain any order purporting to come from any court authorizing demolition of any property on the said lands. The statement also said eight days after the supreme court ruling, the court of Appeal also struck out application by Nii Tetteh Opremreh II to stay proceedings in the substantive case which is pending before the High court [Lands Division] The statement said the application that was before the Supreme Court was not to determine which of the contesting parties had better title to the disputed land, but rather to determine the validity of the ruling of Justice Ernst Obimpeh in a judicial review application wrongly brought by Nii Tetteh Opremreh II before the High court [Land Division]. The statement further said it was the contention of the Applicants in the application before the Supreme Court that the decision of the learned trial Judge was void in so far as 1. It cancelled the title certificates of innocent third parties without offering them an opportunity to be heard in court and 2. Its set aside a judgment of a court of coordinate jurisdiction delivered in April, 1999 and believed to be res judicata. The statement also said the Supreme Court upon hearing the applications and granting the request to quash the learned trial judge�s ruling of 8th May, 2013 did not consider of the two grounds of the application. Instead the justices of the supreme court held simply that the trial judge exceeded his jurisdiction when after rightly dismissing the improper application for judicial review filed by Nii Tetteh Opremreh II as an abuse of the court process, he [the trial judge] went further [despite dismissing the application] to pronounce on matters which could only be determined on the merits of the case that is quashing the April 1999 judgment of Nana Gyamera � Tawia, cancelling all three certificates of Nii Tetteh Opremreh II and cancelling all other certificates deriving their validity from the April, 1999 judgment. The statement pointed out that the decision of the supreme court of 22nd October, 2013 has leveled the playing for both parties contesting issue of who has a better title to disputed land in the pending suit number FAL/94/2009 and entitled Nii Tetteh Opremreh II VRS I]Komexa Ltd,ii] Lands Commission, iii] Omari computer system limited, iv] Nii Kpobi Tetteh Tsuru and v] Ebenezer Nii Mensah Akogyeram