By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Lands Commission has accused an Accra High Court judge, Justice D. K. Ofosu- Quartey, of showing open bias in his ruling in a land case between the Commission and one Mrs. Francisca Ofori-Atta.
They have thus petitioned the Judicial Secretary to call for the docket on the case for study, to avert what they describe as a 'travesty of justice.' The petition, which is dated April 27, 2009, was written
and signed by the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Alhaji Baryeh, and his Assistant Lands Officer, Ridley H. Lutterodt.The two were compelled to file the petition, following a ruling on the case which did not go in their favour.
In June 2007, the Lands Commission embarked on a demolition exercise, which affected encroachers on all state lands situated at the Tema Motorway Industrial Area.
In the process, the plaintiff in the case, Francisca Ofori-Atta, sued the Lands Commission from disputing her ownership of a parcel of land situated at East Airport in Okpoi Gonno, in view of a search report from the same Lands Commission which confirmed her as the owner of the said land, which was affected by the demolition exercise.
The court therefore entered judgment in favour of Madam Ofori-Atta on July 27, 2008, and ordered the defendants, being the Lands Commission, from disputing the plaintiff's ownership of the land embodied in the search report tendered as exhibit in the course of the proceedings.
He further declared: “The search report is correct and authentic, and the defendants are bound by same, among others, as per reliefs granted the plaintiff.
“I order the Lands Commission to lapse and cancel from its records, any purported grant and registration of the plaintiffs land to any other person or authority, which was made after the trespass and improper demolition exercise.”
The judge further noted: “any such or further grant or alienation of plaintiffs land to any person or authority, shall be void and of no legal effect, and shall accordingly convey no title whatsoever to such guarantee (s).”
However, the plaintiff was compelled by circumstance to file a contempt case against the Lands Commission.
The present contempt case arose when the plaintiff caused one Samuel Adjaho to conduct a search dated February 16, 2009, which gave results that the land was state land acquired under an Executive Instrument dated October 10, 1976 for the Tema Motorway Industrial Area.
It again affected a lease dated May 15, 2006 from government to a company called Eakaza limited.
In the course of the proceedings, the Secretary of the Commission informed the court that the Lands Commission had plotted the plaintiff's judgment plan as embodied in the search report dated February 9, 2007.
Upon this information, the petitioners noted that the court discharged them, only for the plaintiff to later file for a review of the court's decision to discharge the two, arguing that they misled the court by plotting the land in Regimanuel Gray Estates.
For this reason, the two officers say they are taken aback, since according to them, to the best of their knowledge, the plan embodied in the search report dated February 9, 2007, which the court declared authentic and correct, was what they used in the plotting of the judgment dated July 21, 2008 by Justice Ofosu-Quartey.
Both individuals are therefore wondering if the plan given to Mr Adjaho falls within the judgment plan or outside it, and whether the information given Mr. Adjaho, as per his search dated February 16, 2009, was a willful act to disobey the court's order, assuming Adjaho's plan falls within the judgment plan of the plaintiff.
The Lands Commission is thus seeking to know from the Judiciary Secretary whether the court's decision was retrospective, to enable it be cited for contempt for a lease dated May 15, 2006 to be affected by the case, which was filed on February 5, 2008, be said to be in contempt of court, as was held by Justice Ofosu Quartey on April 24, 2009.
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