Bulldozer demolishes two-storey building

Occupants of a two-storey building near the Rawlings Park in Accra were Thursday awakened by sounds of a bulldozer pulling down their abode, which also contained shops.

The presence of armed police personnel put fear in the occupants as they rushed out from their rooms to count their losses.

Items destroyed 

Items such as fridges, television sets, sewing, knitting and embroidery machines were destroyed.

The exercise created heavy traffic on the main Makola-Rawlings Park road and also prevented shop owners close to the building from opening their doors for business.

Court order 

A copy of a writ of possession issued by the Lands Division of the Accra High Court, made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that the owner of King George Enterprise, Mr George Yaw Mereku, was granted an order on February 19, 2014 to take possession of the property.

The police indicated that their presence at the demolition site was based on a request from the Judicial Service to assist the officers during the execution to forestall any breach of peace that may arise in the course of the exercise.

Victims sleeping 

Faustina Mercy Nteni, who claims to be a third-generation relative of the owner of the building, told the Daily Graphic that there was no notice to indicate that the building would be demolished on that day, even though the matter was before the Lands Division of the Accra High Court.

“We were sleeping when we heard some noise and then we went out only to see that the building was being brought down. There were police officers with guns all over so we had to rush out of the building.”

She said occupants were not even given the opportunity to recover their possessions.

According to 75-year-old Madam Nteni, about four years ago, one Mr George Yaw Mereku, aka King George, approached some family members and claimed ownership of the building which served as shops and residential accommodation.

She disclosed that prior to the demolition, the family members, mostly third and fourth-generation relatives of the owner, together with some of the tenants who had been served notice to vacate the building, had proceeded to the court to halt the exercise.

Displaying documents, she said the family had secured a stay of execution notice from the court to prevent the plaintiff from taking possession of the building.