Members of the Nentene Family at Kato in the Berekum East Municipality in the Bono Region are up in arms against the authorities of Municipal Assembly over a portion of land that they had earmarked for redevelopment for a car park close to the Berekum roundabout.
The Spokesperson for the aggrieved family, Madam Joyce Addae Boakye, said that the land that the Assembly wants to develop belonged to their family, but they were not consulted in respect of the proposed development on the land.
She explained that the said land around the roundabout was given to their forefather, Nana Baanie, who later handed it over to Nana Kwakye, who was then serving the Berekum Chief and had been in their possession ever since.
According to her, “The land has now been fenced for redevelopment,” but said the Assembly did not consult any member of the family and had forcibly taken it from them.
She added that the family members were embarking on a series of demonstrations to register their protest, since the land belonged to the family and nobody could take it from them without their consent.
Madam Addae Boakye led the family to pour two bottles of schnapps on the land to scare anyone who had been tasked to develop the car park.
The Berekum East Municipal Assembly Engineer, Mr. Adu Boateng, speaking on the issue, explained that, “the said land close to the Berekum roundabout has not just been taken away by the Assembly, but they are developing it to beautify the center of Berekum and use that place as a car park to enable cars that park in front of banks and on the roadside to have spacious places to park to avoid any unforeseen circumstances that may occur around the area in the future.”
He added that the Assembly had no problem with the family, but would ask the family to produce their evidence of ownership, since the assembly needed the land for development.
