Okyeman Youth accuses Koans of ‘land theft’

The Okyeman Youth Association (OYA) has described Kofi Anokye’s purported claim of ownership of lands around Nsawam Adoagyiri, Pampanso and Kyekyewere, allegedly sold to him by Mankata and Quansah families, as “public admission of fraud and deliberate misrepresentation of facts”.

This follows recent publications in which Mr Anokye accused Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin of double land sales. Mr Anokye had claimed that stool lands sold to him were being resold to other estate developers.

However, in a direct response to his claims, a statement issued last week by the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council stated that all lands in Akyem Abuakwa, except those acquired by the state through compulsory acquisition, remain stool lands, and the Okyenhene is the “immemorial allodia owner of all stool lands” in Akyem Abuakwa.

‘Fraudulent act’

Addressing a press conference yesterday at the forecourt of Ofori Panin Fie in Kyebi, the president of OYA, Archibald Ntiri-Acquah, categorically stated that the claims of Mr Anokye, Chief Executive Officer of Koans Building Solutions Company, of ownership based on an alleged sale of the said land was untrue. He added that the supposed sale of the land to the Mankata and Quansah families by the Apedwa stool was “fraudulent and legally untenable”.

The press conference was in response to derogatory comments made against Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, the overlord of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, relating to “land theft” in Akyem Abuakwa by Mr Anokye.

According to the president of OYA, they are befuddled by these claims, especially those from the Mankata family, which claims that it owns some 27,000 acres of Okyeman lands. He said, historically, it is only through an act of war and conquest that a group can lay claim to such vast land.

“It must be re-emphasised that Kofi Anokye has no proper or legitimate root of title. In recent published statements, Kofi Anokye has alleged that with respect to lands leased to GIMPA, he has directed payments to the Ofori Panin Palace at Adabraka through his alleged surrogates. We demand that, within 48 hours, he produces evidence of receipt of payment or faces our legitimate confrontation with his indiscretion,” Mr Ntiri-Acquah threatened.