Portions of a two-storey building housing over 30 shops at Makola were on Sunday torn down under the supervision of the police amidst protest.
The Angelina House Shopping Center is situated near the Accra Shopping Mall all within the central business district.
In an interview with Mr. Kwame Agyekum Siaw, one of the children of the late J.K Siaw, a business tycoon who owned Tata Brewery and other properties, said a private developer is influencing some of his siblings to sell the property they all inherited.
His claim that the property has been sold to a developer was flatly denied by the other family members.
The police at the scene declined to speak on record about the issue. However, one of them told 3news.com the building in question is weak and poses danger to the public hence the demolition exercise.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siaw explained to 3news.com that there is a pending case in court in which the ownership of the property is being contested.
“He is also aware the matter is in court. So I don’t want to say more just in case of contempt. He had been served documents and he has attended some of the hearings in court. So he is aware the matter is at the court to determine the ownership of the property so we can move forward as a family and deal with issues ourselves,” he added.
He insisted on getting the building renovated as ordered by the court in an earlier judgment.
A court had in July 2016 ordered the family to renovate the building in accordance with recommendations by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in 2015.
“Confirmation of commencement of the renovation works and routine and regular inspection of the works shall be undertaken by the Building Inspectors of the AMA,” the court ruled in a settlement that was endorsed by all the parties.
One of the signatories to the settlement, Joseph Apeadu Siaw, told 3news.com it is the renovation the court ruled on that the family is undertaking which Kwame Agyekum Siaw is now protesting against.
He noted that because the family didn’t have the financial strength to undertake the necessary renovations as recommended by the AMA, they entered into partnership with a developer to finance the process.
He reiterated that the property has not been sold to the developer, and showed documents spelling out details of the partnership.
By Marshall Bobobee | 3news.com