Accra, Aug 11, GNA – A resident of Ashaiman in
the Greater Accra region has appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene
in a tango between him and the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) over a
public toilet.
The man; Nashiru Yusif, alias Nash, said that
ASHMA is using its clout to bully him away from the landed property which he
inherited from his late father.
“My father owned this land and passed it on to
me as an inheritance. However, ASHMA is asking me to either make it a
shareholder in the running of a toilet or pay them GH¢50,000.00 for it. But I
don’t have that kind of money.”
In a statement signed and copied to the Ghana
News Agency in Accra on Saturday, Mr Yusif said he was a total mismatch to
ASHMA and therefore pleaded with the President to step his foot down on ASHMA.
The toilet in question is located at the VALCO
Flats in Ashaiman. Before ASHMA was carved out of the Tema Metropolitan
Assembly (TMA), the TMA had built the toilet on the land.
He said he inherited the land from his father
had sued the TMA over the property and won. Upon winning the case, he made some
upgrades on the facility and started running it.
Soon after however, the Ashaiman Municipal
Assembly (ASHMA) was carved out of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and
with its new autonomy, ASHMA has moved in to possess the toilet again.
He said an ensuing confrontation between him
and ASHMA saw the General Assembly of ASHMA asking him to either partner ASHMA
or pay GH¢50,000.00 as a buy-off of his property.
“I don’t know where they expect me to get that
kind of money from; and to think that this is my own property that we are
talking about.”
“I am begging President Akufo-Addo to defend
my rights in this issue. I know our President is a human rights lawyer who
cares about ordinary people like me,” he said.
Meanwhile, GNA in Accra made some calls to get
the side of their story that never materialised
An official who was contacted pleaded
anonymity and said he could not talk on it until the whole assembly came to a
consensus.
GNA