KOANS didn’t steal Kyekyewere land; we sold it to him – Quansah family

The John Emmanuel Kofi Quansah family from Sakumo We in the Greater Accra Region has stood by a 1914 Supreme Court ruling to assert their ownership of a segment of the Apapam Stool lands located in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region. This assertion was made during a press conference in Accra, organized by Nii Otoo Hortoi II, the Head of the Sakumo We family, alongside his elders such as Nii Shippi Kwei Mensah III, Nii Oblitey Kofi Quansah, and Nii Kpakpo Quartey.

The Quansah family maintains that their great-grandfather, John Emmanuel Kofi Quansah, legally obtained the land portions, stretching up to Kyekyewere, Teacher Mantey, and neighboring regions, directly from the traditional leaders of Apapam in 1890. The family asserts that a pertinent Supreme Court decision delivered on August 24, 1914, solidified this claim and acknowledged John Emmanuel Kofi Quansah's ownership rights to the said lands.

The legal authority of this judgment was further validated by Dr. J.B. Danquah, a distinguished legal figure and one of the Big Six instrumental in Ghana's independence movement, who documented the case in his book "Cases in Akan Law." The Quansah family emphasizes that the court's verdict and Dr. Danquah's documentation serve as credible historical evidence bolstering their claim over the contested land.

They also highlighted historical records from 1915 to 1921 to substantiate their case. At the press conference, Nii Otoo Hortoi II took a firm stance, warning any challengers from Kyekyewere or the surrounding areas to pursue legal action. He affirmed that the family had previously allocated portions of their land for development by KOANS Building Solutions but denied any theft of land from communities like Teacher Mantey, Kyekyewere, or other neighboring regions.

The family staunchly rejected the notion that the indigenous Gas people of the Greater Accra area were barred from owning land within the Apapam enclave in the Eastern Region. They firmly stated, "We are Gas, but our great-grandfather, John Emmanuel Kofi Quansah, acquired portions of the Apapam lands in 1890, and the Supreme Court ruling of 1914 validated this acquisition."

The family drew an analogy to the longstanding residence of the Okyehene at Adabraka, attributing its existence to the land's legal acquisition. They reiterated that their ownership claim is firmly rooted in historical records and the 1914 court judgment.