MCDAN ACCUSED OF ALLEGEDLY USING NATIONAL SECURITY AGENTS AND LANDGUARDS TO INTIMIDATE WORKERS OF YEHANS INTERNATIONAL AT NUGUA

There is a high sense of fear and panic among the workers hired by Yehans International Ghana Limited to develop a 2.59-acre land located at Light Industrial Area off Spintex Road at Nungua in Accra, which land belongs to Yehans International Limited.

What has characterised the fear in the area, according to information available to this reporter is as a result of moves initiated by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the McDan Group of Companies, Mr Daniel McKorley, to defy a Supreme Court judgment declared against him over the land by using gun-wielding and some ‘fake’ National Security personnel and notorious land guards to allegedly intimidate and visit mayhem on the workers of Yehans International Limited.

The Supreme Court judgment on October 24, 2018, intercepted by this reporter, cautioned Mr McKorley and his agents against trespassing on the said land.

But anytime the workers of Yehans International Limited went to the land to work, Mr McKorley will allegedly hire notorious land guards and some thugs claiming to be national security personnel to go to the land and carry out their nefarious operations amid intimidations and death threats.

The land measuring about a 2.59-acre was legally brought on July 2002 by Yehans International Limited from Pendagrass Borketey Alabi at Nungua in Accra, the original title owner of the said land, according to documents from Lands Commission of Ghana and Supreme Court.

The land certificate document issued under the authority of the Land Title Registry of the Lands Commission in Accra with registration Cert. No GA. 63479, volume 48, follo 96p intercepted by this reporter indicates that indeed Yehans International Limited is registered as tenant or lessee for the unexpired residue of a lease for a term of 99 years from the tenth day of March 1996.

This land certificate which was issued on September 17, 2020, was signed and certified by the Chief Registrar of the Lands Commission in Accra.

The title holder owner of the land (Yehans International Limited) stated that life was increasingly becoming dangerous for their workers in the area, because anybody can become a target or victim of these” scoundrels, wretched, lawless, villains, murderers and trespassers, who have no consideration and respect for human lives.”

Not long ago, the national security personnel and land guards came to the land using brute force to drag the workers on the land but fortunately they came to meet the owner of Yehans International Limited, who showed the documents to them.

“We want to state with fear that the Chief Executive Officer of McDan Group of Companies’ association with these notorious national security and land guards’ activities have emboldened the land guards which had resulted in incessant land guard attacks on innocent workers in the area,” he added.

“On a daily basis, our workers fear for their lives as a result of land guards’ activities and constant efforts on the part of management of Yehans International Limited to draw the attention of the police to the matter has yielded no result,” he stated.

To facilitate his operations, Mr McKorley has allegedly hired a group of notorious land guards to the site who do not only provide security but also terrorise and beat anybody who questions them.

These fear-stricken workers and owners of the land -Yehans International Limited – lamented that several complaints lodged at the police stations have yielded no positive dividends, a situation they said, was increasing their suspicion of the police being in league with the land guard.

”We are in a state of shock that although the Supreme Court has officially written to the Police Administration to protect our lives and properties on the land cautioned Mr McKorley and his agents against trespassing on the said land, but understandably Mr McKorley ignored the court order and still continued to trespass on the land, a clear case of contempt,” he noted.

The issue of the land litigation began sometime around 2006 at the High Court and the plaintiff, Yehans International Limited, won the case at the High Court against the defendants at the time, Martey Tsuru family and 18th July Company Limited.

Not satisfied with the ruling, the defendants filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal which they lost. That was still not enough! The defendants proceeded with the case to the Supreme Court which they eventually lost.

While the matter was at the Court of Appeal, a company purportedly owned by Mr Daniel McKorley (McDan), took advantage of the litigation in court and started constructing two warehouses on the land.

Mr McKorley, however, denied any knowledge of the said property even after the matter was reported at the police station.

Interestingly the two ware houses were built while the issue of litigation was still in court.

A notice of a writ of possession was served to Mr McKorley by the counsel of Yehans International on 26th March, 2020, to notify them to take possession of the land.

But they did not bother or put any notice of claim in court or anything of sort.

After the Supreme Court’s judgment, according to the lawyer of Yehans International Limited, Mr Kofi Bosompem, the plaintiff, who is the land owner removed items in the warehouse purportedly belonging to Mr McKorley.

Mr Bosompem disclosed that while the matter was at the court of appeal, a company purportedly owned by Mr Mckorley took advantage of the litigation in court and started constructing two (2) ware houses on the land.

In a media interview during the evacuation of items from the warehouse, Lawyer Bosompem said they were only enforcing rule of law to ensure that the right thing was done.

“It is high time we discouraged people from acting with impunity where people just encroached other peoples’ land and due to whatever influences, just engage in land grabbing without caring about the inconvenience they put the rightful owners to.”

It has been established that Mr McKorley has no claim to the said land and hence the evacuation was to ensure the rightful owners of the land (Yehans International Limited) have their land.

“We as the owner of the land believe it is time that we appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Defence Minister and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene in the matter as several reports to the police high command had failed to bear fruits.

“We the owners of the land want to appeal to President, the Inspector General of Police, Chief of Defence Staff [CDS], National Security Coordinator and the Chief Justice to as a matter of urgency arrest and prosecute them,” he stressed.