The small community of Israel
near Alhaji and Lominava has enjoyed a peaceful atmosphere until some few years
ago when armed robbers on “Okada” laid siege and held the people hostage by
robbing them of their valuables. Men on “okada” brandishing machetes and other
dangerous weapons accosted their victims, most of them students going to attend
lectures at Pentecost University and disposed them of their mobile phones and
lap-tops.
It was either your life or those two items. In all cases, their
victims chose the first option. Who say “life no sweet”? Life sweet paa oo. My
brothers and sisters, whether there is noko fio or no noko fio, I say “Life
sweet well-well”.
The incidents I have narrated
happened about three or four years ago. It disrupted night life and affected
dawn broadcasts by men and women from different religious organizations who
were bent on converting people to Christ.
But having enjoyed such a brief
period of respite, another trouble seems to be brewing out over a portion of
land which “houses” the Football Field and its surrounding areas. Let me re-iterate that the Football Field has
served as a rallying point for the people, irrespective of one’s religious,
tribal or political affiliation. The ownership of the Field is not in doubt.
The community owns it and Mr. Michael Nkrumah, aka “Master” held it in trust
for the people of Israel.
But recently, this rallying point
has come under frontal attacks from various angles. At the arrowhead of this
group are the Proprietor of Crown Prince Academy and his protégé, who happens
to be the Chief of the town. This portion of land has been the subject of
litigation between two factions – Mr. Michael Nkrumah and the Proprietor of
Cosmos Schools on one side and the Proprietor of Crown Prince on the other
side.
Mr. Michael Nkrumah was the
Founder and Proprietor of the famous St Michael International School at
Kajaano, Osu in the seventies and eighties. It carved a niche for itself in
Sports and academics. It was forced to close down when the land lady decided to
take over the structures being used for the school.
Mr. Michael, aka Master then came
to Israel and bought the land including the portion being used as the football
field from the Chief of Darkuman, with the intention of re-establishing the St
Michael International School. I have cited documents duly authenticated by the
Chief of Darkuman, attesting to Mr. Michael Nkrumah ownership of the land. Some
portions of the land were also sold to the Proprietress of Cosmos Schools.
The Proprietor of Crown Prince
Academy emerged from nowhere brandishing a so-called “title deed” purported to
have been issued by the Lands Commission, which to him, makes him the sole and
actual owner of the land. Naturally, the other party did not take things lying
low and a long legal battle ensued.
Master, as he was popularly known to his admirers had then started
putting structures to re-kindle his dream of starting St Michaels International
School at Israel. But his dream suffered
a pre-matured “birth” when the Crown Prince Academy Proprietor sent his thugs
to raze all the structures to the ground.
The only permanent structure left on Master’ side of the land was a
single room where he resided.
Michael Nkrumah never recovered
from the blow. He had spent all he had on his pet dream and when the structures
were demolished by hard-hearted owner of Crown Prince Academy, down burst his
mighty heart. He went to bed one night and was taken seriously ill. He was
rushed to the hospital, but died on the way before he could receive medical
help. He was buried on Saturday, 9TH July, 2011.
But even in death, the Proprietor
of Crown Prince Academy would never allow the soul of the departed Michael
Nkrumah rest in peace. He has, since Friday, 22nd July been
harassing and threatening fire and brimstone on the youth who use the football
field to practice and other traders who have erected make-shift structures to
earn some legitimate source of living. That Friday, he ordered his thugs to
destroy a container on a portion of the disputed land. He told the people that
he was giving them four days to get off the football field and also to remove
all structures from the disputed land.
The following Saturday, he made
three trips to the place to ensure that his directive had sunk into the ears of
his “tenants”. On the third occasion, he was accompanied by the Chief of Israel
whose brother had sold the land to the late Michael Nkrumah and who himself was
a signatory to the transaction. The Proprietor of Crown Prince Academy
announced to the hearing of those who cared to listen that he was not going to
tolerate nonsense from anybody and that he was going to fence off the football
field from the other portions of the disputed territory. To drum it into the
tympanic membrane of those around that he meant business, he came along with a
surveyor, who plunged into action immediately to impress his ‘boss’ that he
deserves the emolument he has been promised.
The Chief of Israel revealed his
cantankerous nature when he told the people that the Crown Prince Academy owner
has given him that portion of the disputed land where the late Michael
Nkrumah’s one room building was located and that he would pull down the building
within the next three days. As at Monday, the building was still intact.
Followers of the unfolding drama,
particularly those who use the field and are aware of the genesis of the whole
“show” are amazed at the behaviour of the Chief of Israel. Here was a man, whom
they claim, during the life time of the late “Master” was a regular visitor to
his place and the two were often seen together in most places. They told me in
plain language that “Ghana Must Go” might have changed hands to warrant the recent
change of attitude in the Chief.
They went further to state that
the Chief was behaving like party delegates who are often called upon to
determine the fate of political gladiators. They said the “man” cannot be
trusted and alluded to the fact that sometime in 2005, the Chief organized some
touts to be collecting illegal tools from transporters and other road users on
his behalf. This illegal toll collection went unabated for about five days
until they were flushed out by a military patrol team.
But can someone educate me on
this? I know for certain that all that portion of land including that of Israel
was acquired by Government to be used for the Race Course Project. But when it
was realized that Government lacked the political will to implement the project,
the chiefs of the affected lands started selling them off. Thus, to the best of my knowledge, Government
has not taken any decision to grant title deeds to buyers of those lands.
Therefore, how could the
Proprietor of Crown Prince Academy claim to be the legitimate owner of that
disputed portion of land? If there is any such title deed from the Lands
Commission, that piece of paper is worth less than a tissue paper. It is not
genuine. And if he continues to brandish it as his legitimate claim to the
land, he must be arrested for using a fake document which is likely to cause
fear and panic amongst the citizenry of Israel.
Government must also take steps to discipline perpetrators of such
heinous crime to serve as a deterrent to such fraudsters who are parading the
corridors of the Lands Commission.
It is at this juncture pertinent
to state that because of the way the Chief of Israel was selling public lands,
sometimes selling the same plot of land to two or more people, the Land-lords
Association of Israel managed to secure a court injunction to restrain the
Chief from any further sale of the disputed lands around the football field.
Some few years back, Government
acquired some portions of that land to be used for a School project. The area
was cleared and mapped out for the start of the project. But overnight, touts
from the stable of the Proprietor of Crown Prince Academy raided the place and
destroyed everything systematically put in place to ensure the effective take
off of the project. And if I may ask, what action has Government taken against
the Proprietor for thwarting the laudable efforts of Government to establish a
school for hose living from Abeka Motorway to Alhaji, Israel, Lominava,
Sowutuom and its environs? Is he a
sacred cow?
I am not a rumour monger, neither
am I a “dooms monger”. But I detest injustice, which I had fought against all
my life. I am only alerting the Security Agencies about the ominous signs and
threats to life and peace at the small Israel Community. No individual person
can claim to be the sole owner of a football field which has served the
community in diverse ways. We should not play the ostrich and wait for what
happened at Medina to occur at Israel we take action to nip the threat to peace
in the bud.
This “Troubler of Israel” is at
it again, doing what he knows best. He claims he has won a court case against
Mr Nkrumah and therefore resorted into demolishing peoples’ property on the
disputed land. The irony of the whole show of shame is that the illegal demolition
exercise was supervised by the Ghana Police. None of the parties involved was
served notice to appear in court. Checks at the various Landlords Associations
and the late Mr Nkrumah’s family have confirmed that. The Mr Ray Kakraba
Quarshie, lawyer to the Plaintiff was also not served. No bailiff served the
affected parties notice of demolition. There was no court order and that made
the demolition illegal. Why then should the Ghana Police supervise such an
illegal demolition?
But when the Landlords Association
organized a Press Conference to set the record straight heavily armed Police men and officers led by
Mile Seven Police Commander, came to
disrupt the peaceful protest. But the Police supervised an illegal demolition
exercise!
In conclusion, let me re-iterate
that the Proprietress of Crown Prince Academy is not God and should not profess
to be that. He should desist from trampling on other people’s right as he has
been doing and getting away with it because of his money. The Courts are there.
The recognized institutions and structures should be allowed to perform their
duties without let or hindrance. There should be no under-current tactics.
There, and then only, can the problem be resolved
Let peace reign in Israel.
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