The Ashanti Muslim Women Association has accused the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed, of unlawfully occupying and commencing construction on land it says the group has legally owned for more than two decades in Buoban, Asawase.
In a petition addressed to President John Dramani Mahama, the association is seeking immediate presidential intervention to halt what it describes as forced construction and occupation without due constitutional process.
According to the petition, the group lawfully acquired and managed the land to support educational and vocational development projects, particularly targeting young women in the community. The women explained that although they previously held discussions in 2015 about voluntarily releasing portions of the land for a proposed nursing and physician assistant training college, those talks were based strictly on consent and never resulted in any compulsory acquisition.
However, they say construction activities recently began on the remaining land without their approval or any lawful acquisition procedure.
We stand before you not as agitators, not as opponents of development, but as mothers, grandmothers, educators, and long-standing contributors to our community and nation, the petition states, adding that no Executive Instrument, compensation process, or formal transfer has been presented to justify the takeover.
The association further alleged that when members visited the site to object, the minister publicly declared that the land had been taken and would not be returned.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday (24 February), member Zainab Owusu recounted the sacrifices women made to purchase the land.
We as women of Islam, let’s say our grandmothers had to sell their properties, both personal and family properties. Some gave out everything they owned in their businesses to own this land for the sake of Islam, she said.
Owusu claimed the group was preparing to begin its own development when another project started without consultation.
Dr Hamo Bariq came and started a project out of nowhere. So we stood up to say no and he said, because he has power, there’s nothing we can do about it, she alleged.
She added that the women had to travel overnight from Kumasi to Accra during Ramadan to press their case.
It’s not easy for us… we hope government hears our cries and comes to our help and saves us from this oppression, she said, urging intervention from the presidency at Jubilee House.
In their formal demands, the association is asking for an immediate halt to all construction works, an independent and transparent review of the ownership status of the land, and strict adherence to constitutional safeguards on property rights.
They insist the issue is not opposition to development but what they describe as the use of political power to override lawful ownership.
Source: Asaase Radio
