North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the Owoo family, who are said to be the custodial owners of the lands where Accra’s Achimota forest is located, will undoubtedly go down in history as Ghana’s largest extended family.
His remark comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the planned declassification of the Achimota Forest.
Mr Ablakwa said in a tweet, “The Owoo family will undoubtedly enter the record books as Ghana’s largest extended family.” It’s becoming clear that OWOO stands for Officials Within Organized Operations. The reason I petitioned the Supreme Court in 2008 to prohibit public officials from purchasing government lands — BAN THIS NOW!”
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The family had said in a statement that it suffered grave historical injustices over the non-payment of compensation to it for the State’s acquisition in 1927.
“We, the Owoo Family, have restrained ourselves from participating in the ongoing debate as a result of good advice and judgment. We however reluctantly wish to set a few records straight as follows; The Owoo Family, the pre-acquisition owners, of all the land acquired in 1921 and 1927 for the Achimota School, have suffered grave historical injustice;
“The family have had to, in the past, accept and/or acquiesce to terms to enable it move on which it strongly believes have been unfair and unjust; The much talked about 19th August, 2016 ceremony which has been erroneously stated in the public as an occasion when land was released to the Owoo family is false and misleading.
“That ceremony was a sod cutting ceremony for the development of the Achimota Forest into an Eco-Tourism park. The Owoo Family were mere invitees/guest.”
Read their full statement below:
RE: ACHIMOTA FOREST AND MATTERS ARISING
We, the Owoo Family, have restrained ourselves from participating in the ongoing debate as a result of good advice and judgment.
We however reluctantly wish to set a few records straight as follows;
1. The Owoo Family, the pre-acquisition owners, of all the land acquired in 1921 and 1927 for the Achimota School, have suffered grave historical injustice;
2. The family have had to, in the past, accept and/or acquiesce to terms to enable it move on which it strongly believes have been unfair and unjust;
3. The much talked about 19th August, 2016 ceremony which has been erroneously stated in the public as an occasion when land was released to the Owoo family is false and misleading. That ceremony was a sod cutting ceremony for the development of the Achimota Forest into an Eco-Tourism park. The Owoo Family were mere invitees/guest;
4. The Owoo Family has always maintained that compensation has not been paid for the 1927 acquisition; and
5. The acreage due the Owoo family was arrived at through a long standing negotiations which in many respects predates the current administration. This was done with the active involvement of various State technical negotiators and agencies.
The Owoo family has petitioned all governments in the fourth republican dispensation and indeed is yet to take possession of any parcel of land to date.
We commit to conducting ourselves in a manner which will not compromise the ecological integrity of the adjoining forest reserve and call on the general public to please disregard any misleading contributions to the ongoing public discussions.
END
John Kwartey Nee Owoo
Francis Kwatei Nee Owoo
Nii Kwate Owoo
George Kwatey Owoo
Frank Nii Kwartey Owoo
Nat Holly Nii Owoo
George Annan Owoo.
PRINCIPAL ELDERS
OWOO FAMILY
ACCRA
