Nzema chiefs brawl over oil land

STORY: EVANS OSEI-BAFFUOR

Chief of Kabina Suazo, a suburb of Half Assini in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, Nana Kabina Tindenle, has registered his displeasure against a recent press conference held by the Omanhene of the Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Annor Ajaye III, allegedly citing him for conniving and scheming to sell about 100 acres of land to the deputy Energy Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, for his personal use.

According to him, he has never had any discussion with Mr. Buah, who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ellembele, the place where the purported relocation of the Gas Infrastructural project is said to have been taken to, saying the allegations made in the statement were not true.    

It would be recalled that a recent press conference held by the chiefs and people of Western Nzema Traditional Council, indicted both Mr. Armah Kofi Buah and Dr. George Sipa Yankey, the CEO Ghana National Gas Company Limited, for playing key roles in the relocation of the gas infrastructural project from Domunli, Bonyele in the Jomoro District to Atuabo in the Ellembele District.

The chief noted that the statement made by the Omanhene sought to degrade him as a sub-chief, to which end, he took a strong exception.

He averred that he would not allow such comments to be made against him and would fight to redeem his image.

“The statement purported to be made by Awulae Annor Adjeye is rather unfortunate and worrisome, it injures my reputation as a chief; and my outfit would see to it that this nonsense is stopped,” he told this reporter in a telephone interview last Sunday.

The displeased chief further reiterated that the statement was only meant to dent his credibility and foment trouble among the people and therefore called on all to see the allegations as “false and baseless.”

“In fact, I have been undermined by those who allegedly attributed me to be the main brain behind the attempted sale of the 100 acres of land to the minister; I will decide what to do next with this allegation,” he added.

The Paramount Chief of the area, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, in a sharp rebuttal, accused his subject (Nana Kabina Suazo) as an opportunistic politician, citing him as a true NDC man who wants to satisfy the selfish desires of his masters.

“That man used to be an NDC constituency chairman before he was installed as a chief,” he told this reporter.

When asked for the reason for the purported statement that cites the deputy minister for energy and a native from Nzema, he mentioned that he was not the one who inserted that particular clause but was rather put in by a committee adding that he was only made to read it as their leader.

“You can check from the committee regarding who inserted that particular clause which I read out to the public indicting Mr. Kofi Buah for attempting to buy 100 acres of land from a chief from my area for his selfish motives.”

He however mentioned that he does not regret reading the statement which was duly prepared by the committee that he supervised.

The paramount chief disclosed that there are plans to meet the president to ensure that the move to “sway the Gas project to a wrongful place” is brought back to its initial location, thus Domunli.

“We would not hesitate to result to the law court if the government refuses to heed to our calls since the agreement which was signed three years ago that indicates Domunli as the official location for the project is backed by an international law.”

On his part, the Youth Leader of the area and a Secretary of the Committee, Uncle Mark, gave a contradictory view regarding the issue, saying the whole exercise was rather led by Mr. Buah’s senior’s brother instead of an earlier statement that cites Mr. Kofi Buah as the man who approached the chief in question for the land.

The youth leader further told this reporter: “My friend go and ask those who sent you that how much of land did they attempt buying from the chief and for what purpose is it meant to be used and how much was supposed to have been paid to the said chief.”

Meanwhile, checks from the MP for the area indicated that there was no occasion where he (Mr. Kofi Buah) attempted buying such parcels of land from Nana Kabina Tindenle.

He therefore called on all to exercise restraint in the pending case since the government is working with the various agencies responsible for the sector to curtail the anomalies