Former President John Agyekum Kuffour has allegedly blocked a major road that connects commuters from the State Experimental Basic School to Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC), Urban Roads, and Electoral Commission regional offices with a block fence wall for an estate project.
Starr News sources at the Ashanti Regional Department of the Urban Roads disclosed the land was acquired by the former head of state in 2005 while in office as the president of the Republic of Ghana.
Another source at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) also disclosed the former President was stopped from developing the land in 2013 by retired former Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator Mr. Bimpong Marfo during the former President John Evans Atta Mills and John Mahama’s administration.
Currently, the about 2-acre land which shares a fence wall with the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council within the security zone is fully fenced while the land has been cleared for an estate project to commence.
The asphaltic road which cuts across the land is being used for mixing of concrete with heaps of chippings and sand parked on it.
Residents of Kumasi who are concerned about the project are questioning why the city authority including the regional administration have permitted a private person irrespective of his stature to carry out estate project on the road.
However, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Urban Roads, Mr. Ghambrah explains the land belongs to a private person stressing the road was constructed illegally.
Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah in an exclusive with GHone News also said, any attempt to stop the private developer will attract a judgment debt which has to be avoided.
“I was concerned when I saw the project going on there. I contacted the Lands Commission and other authorities for an explanation but, the documents presented clearly confirmed the land belongs to a private person so I stopped taking any further action because it will attract a judgment dept’’ he said.
Former Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator Mr. Bimpong Marfo in an interview with GHone News also confirmed stopping a private person from developing the said land years ago.
He said all persons who claim to have bought land from the security zone failed to provide documents of proof when they were invited by the Regional Security Council except one Oduro Sarpong who was later relocated to a different from the security zone to a different area.
Mr. Bimpong Marfo expressed shock at the level of estate projects being developed at the Ashanti regional coordinating council area particularly at the areas known as a security zone.
He said although, the land commission says the place has been re-zone for estate development but when a security zone is re-zone for private projects the land can be taken back for security reasons in the interest of the state.
Source: Kasapafmonline.com/Isaac Bediako