The Municipal Chief Executive of Kwadaso, Richmond Agyenim Boateng has vehemently denied selling a portion of onion market land for the construction of a fuel station.

The Bawku-Kumasi Onion Dealers Association has accused the MCE, the Member of Parliament, and some chiefs of behind the wrongful sale as no one will begin working on the land without their notice.

Secretary of the association John Amos explained that two years after they were relocated from Race Course to the Kwadaso Market by the KMA in 2011, some chiefs came to them and said they were going to sell the land.

According to him, they (chiefs) proposed GHS 700,000.00 for the ten plots of land they are operating on, so they as onion dealers agreed to pay but suggested they will have to meet the Asantehene before payment.

He said since then they’ve been piling pressure on the chiefs to take them to Otomfour but proved unsuccessful every time so they also decided not to pay.

Amos further alleged that few months ago the chiefs came again and said they were going to sell some two plots by their market and one each will cost GHS600,000.00 which they requested for a reduction.
However, he said to their greatest shock and surprise few days ago whilst the conversation was still ongoing some unknown men came and started digging the land with escalators.

And when they confronted the chiefs about the issue, they were told the land was given to Otomfour’s brother to construct a fuel filling station.

He believes the step taken is a deliberate attempt by authorities in Kwadaso to frustrate and collapse their onion business without any due process.

He said their cars can no longer get a parking space due to the huge trenches created by the land digging machines.

He told the media that the incident was reported to the Sofoline Police station and the police came and temporarily halted the alleged illegal activity.

“I Know the MCE and the Kwadaso chiefs are those strongly behind this because no one can come and start digging the land to put up a fuel station without their knowledge,” he indicated.

But in an interview, the MCE, Hon. Richmond Agyenim Boateng refuted the alleged sale of the land saying he owns no land has no power to sell that piece of land, adding that the said land is owned by the traditional authorities.

He said there has not been any plan to evict the onion sellers from where they operate, hence they should not fret.

“I met with the onion sellers executive yesterday and I told them that where they are operating belongs to the assembly. But there has not been any plan to move them out of the place. No ejection notice has been served to them so I don’t know why they are worried should. The allegation against me is an outright falsehood, how can I team up with the chiefs to sell that land when I neither own it nor have a stake in it. I don’t sell lands and I want to reiterate that nobody has plans of evicting the onion sellers.”

Source: Fatawu Bayaga