On Nmai Dzorn Land Saga: General Quainoo Vindicated �By Supreme Court

Justice Ernest Obimpe, a High Court Judge, who granted the Okpelor Sowah Din family of Teshie and Nmai Dzorn leave to recover possession of all lands at Nmai Dzorn has had his judgment thrown out by the Supreme Court. The quashing of Justice Obimpeh�s orders brings to an end 10 years of litigation over the land and confirms Demeter Farms and General Arnold Quainoo as the true and lawful owner of the land. The Supreme Court by this move has also reiterated its 2004 decision issued in Order 28 in Civil Suit, No. 24/2002, saying General Quainoo must not be prevented in any way from enjoying his property peacefully. The Supreme Court presided over by His Lordship Justice W.A Atuguba with the Coram: Justice J.V.M. Dotse; Justice V Akoto Bamfo (Mrs.); Justice A. A. Benin; and Justice IB Akamba last month brought up and unanimously threw the judgment of Justice E. Obimpe out. Interestingly, documents sighted by this newspaper reveal that the Lands Commission had four years ago, confirmed General Quainoo as the true owner of the land and was going ahead to have it registered for him, but for inexplicable reasons the Commission stalled the process to the surprise of many. Indeed, a letter dated November 10, 2010 and signed by one Paul Dzadey; a Land Registrar at the Land Registration Division of the Lands Commission to the Okpelor Sowah Din Family and copied General Quainoo said the ex-soldier owned the land. It said �I have been directed to inform you that on account of the decision of the Supreme Court in Suit No. Civil Appeal 24/2002 dated 5th May, 2004, with respect to prior grants; the Registry is unable to uphold your Objection and is hereby set aside for processing to continue for Demeter Farm� Mr. Dzadey�s letter was in response to objections raised by the Okpelor Sowah Din Family in a letter dated February, 2009 titled; �Objection to Lodgement No. 03761/06 for Demeter Farms�. When General Arnold Quainoo, the Executive Director of Demeter Farms was contacted to comment on the judgment, he told this newspaper that the Supreme Court judgment goes a long way to reassure Ghanaians that justice is not for sale and that the rule of law and democracy will ultimately triumph in the country. The General said that the Okpelor Sowah Din family has for a very long time consistently created the impression that it was he, General Quainoo, who has been using political connections at high places to steal Nmai Dzorn peoples land but this has been proven to be untrue by the Supreme Court. The General said he will like the public to know that the Okpelor Sowah Din family, on November 14, 2011 applied to an Accra High Court for a declaration of title to the land. Following commencement of this suit, the same family again applied for an �Order of Interlocutory Injunction�. This Suit was dismissed as unmeritorious by a ruling of His Lordship Justice George Ato Mills-Graves who concluded that, no right to Demeter Farm land had been declared in the Okpelor Sowah Din family by the Supreme Court. This judgment was pronounced on Friday June 3, 2013. Having lost their application for �Interlocutory Injunction� with their claim of a legal and equitable interest in the land having been explicitly rejected by the Court as non-existent, the family, secretly rushed on Monday, June 6, 2013, (Three Days later) to another High Court presided over by Justice Obimpe to apply for an Order for Leave to issue Writ of Possession. This application was shockingly granted by Justice Obimpe on August 13, 2013. �This development appears to me as what is usually referred to as Travesty of Justice�, General Quainoo said. General Quainoo stated further that he is happy to note that �we can always rely on truth to triumph over falsehood in the Highest Court of our land�. Prior to the latest Supreme Court judgment, the Okpelor Sowah Din Family starting from the late Eugene Sowah Odamten have blatantly been disrespecting the Order 28 in Civil Suit No. 24/2002 by illegally selling General Quainoo�s land to private individuals and institutions. Even a private dam on the farm which was a source of potable water and fish was filled up and sold out as plots, and as recently as August, last year, the farm was invaded by thugs, lands guards and agents of the Okpelor Sowah Din Family, wielding guns, machetes and other dangerous implements. They pulled down his poultry farm, fence wall, security post, trees and other structures on the farm. After illegal selling portions of the land, the family then went to the High Court on June 3, 2013 for an �order of possession� in an effort to get a legal backing for disrespecting the Supreme Court�s order to stay off General Quainoo�s property. However, following an application from the retired military chief, the Supreme Court was compelled to have Justice Obimpeh�s �order of possession� nullified in the interest of justice.