The company accused of terrorizing occupants of state-owned lands, Anyok Holdings, has insisted that it was officially contracted to re-possess government lands.
This is contrary to claims by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
The General Manager of the company, Kwame Manchie, in a Citi News interview, said he was awarded a contract in 2017 by the then Minister for lands and natural resources, Peter Amewu to recover all government lands that have been encroached on.
In the wake of a tussle by some group led by one Clement Gyato over land owned by the University of Professional Studies, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources denied any relationship with Clemence Gyato, the leader of the group.
“We have a contract with the state; we signed this contract in 2017 I think. The Ministry of Lands and Natural resources signed for the government of Ghana and the contract essentially said that we should identify all government lands that have been encroached upon and reclaim them for government”, he noted.
It followed earlier claims by Managing Director of Anyok Holding, Clemence Gyato that the Ministry had contracted him to reclaim state lands.
The self-acclaimed contracted staff of the Ministry was called out by landowners around the UPSA after he led a team of military men and land guards to pull down their structures.
But the Ministry through its Public Relations Officer, Abraham Otabil, said it did not have a working relationship with him.
“So, we want to reiterate the claim that, the Land Minister has not contracted a contractor called Gyato to hire land guards to undertake a demolishing exercise. We will not look on for that to continue. The Ministry will look into the matter and ensure that there is sanity in the system. Because, the lands sector has to do with regulations and we have the responsibility over land transactions in the county”, Mr. Otabil said.