The Animal Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has described as deceptive, the claims by residents on a parcel of land at Frafraha, Adenta, that the institute has mislead the Lands and Natural Resources Minister to perpetuate falsehood. The Institute therefore says it will use all legal means to evict encroachers on the land stressing that it is "not interested in any supposed assistance from law breakers". The Animal Research Division of the CSIR has been in a tussle with residents on a land covering about 1,336 acres sine 2006 in court. But Alhaji Inusah Fuseini told Joy News an Accra High Court ruling last year named the CSIR as the rightful owner of the parcel of land in contention. The Property owners, who felt enraged by Alhaji Inusah's comment, consequently accused him for not getting abreast with facts and allowing the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to mislead him into taking a monumental decision. However, a statement issued by the Institute and signed by Peter Asiedu, Local Secretary of Research Staff Association, warned the encroachers to "keep off our property and allow CSIR serve the entire Nation, and the International Research Community, to which the Institute belongs". See the full statement below: RE: RESIDENTS OF FRAFRAHA ACCUSE CSIR OF MISLEADING INUSAH FUSEINI TO PERPETUATE FALSEHOOD I write in response to an article that was published on Thursday the 31st day of July, 2013 on myjoyonline.com. The said article is misleading and deliberately set to cloud the issues at stake with the view to courting public sympathy for blatant law breakers. The CSIR-Animal Research Institute wishes to emphasize that the land in question which is situated at Adenta Fafraha, was acquired by an Executive Instrument (E.I. 38) 1976 by Government dated 27th day of February, 1976, and was gazetted the same year (Ghana Gazette No. 16, Friday, 26 March, 1976, p. 222) for CSIR-Animal Research Institute for the purpose of Scientific Research and Development activities to support the livestock and poultry industry in Ghana. It is a State land and therefore no individual has the single right to purchase land in that category. However for some time now the CSIR-Animal Research Institute has been battling some unscrupulous individuals who have no intention but to destroy the Institute for their own selfish interest. These individuals give the impression, and go on to state that "We didn't just move and started building there. We bought the land from the chiefs, they gave us indentures and we paid for it, and most of us have been living there for the past 12 years. When we started putting up the structures, CSIR was there; they never asked us anything, nobody stopped us, we have more than 2,000 housing units, more than 10,000 people currently live in the area." The CSIR wishes to state here that this statement is far from the truth. Anyone of them who cared to know and found out the rightful owners of the said land from the Lands Commission got to know that it had been registered in the name of the Animal Research Institute. (The article on myjoyonline.com clearly said that “Mr. Adjei however conceded that checks at the Lands Commission about the rightful owners of the land showed that the land was still in the name of the State”). They rather have chosen to go ahead, believing that if they managed to develop their structures to some point then they would have the upper hand and force the Institute to relocate. They therefore have employed force, sometimes to the extent of shooting at and beating staff of the Institute who dared to prevent them (as happened recently, to which Mr. Fred Adjei claims complacency in the article on myjoyonline.com). Those who have completed their structures are encouraging, and also supporting others to finish theirs so the Institute would lose public sympathy when they come out to claim that officials of CSIR looked on when they were developing their illegal structures. These people employ exaggerations to court the sympathy of the general public. A simple calculation will indicate that if they really have “more than 2000 housing units” then the entire land mass would have been taken over by encroachers, each having less than 2 plots. Where then are the laboratories, where are the different animal housings, where are the pasture fields and where are the staff bungalows that the Institute is currently working with? This, notwithstanding, the CSIR-Animal Research Institute, has never stopped to pursue the matter in court, paying huge sums of monies, which should have been used for the purposes of its mandate, to lawyers and News Paper publications. On 25 April 2012 we obtained a default judgment as was rightly stated by the encroachers since they refused to show up in court after numerous substituted service published in the Daily Graphic and The Ghanaian Times. These encroachers employ tricks at the courts to buy time whilst they carry on their illegal activities. Though we secured an injunction against them they never observed it but continued to destroy our land, and also prevent us from carrying out our research activities. (They have at some points destroyed our experimental plots!!!). In the article on myjoyonline.com which accused officials of CSIR of lying to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, one Mr. Fred Adjei is quoted to have said "… [on] 25th of April 2013 after the Judge [had] listened to both Counsels, he granted and set aside the judgment given to the [CSIR], so as we speak now CSIR has no judgment to do any form of demolition. However, they have been going to radio stations saying that they have judgment and very unfortunately they were able to deceive the Sector Minister Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Lands and Natural Resource, into believing that they have judgment and they were going to start demolition of structures anytime soon, which is very unfortunate." The CSIR-Animal Research Institute finds this statement to be the most dishonest statement from the said Mr. Fred Adjei. It would interest readers to know that on 25 April 2013 the Judge, in his ruling on the pleadings of the encroachers claiming ignorance of the case in court, stated that “… … … they have been served and at least 48 persons out of the lot have been in court one time or the other. They engaged Counsel of which these two Counsels at one time or the other appeared in Court on behalf of the defendants, or wrote to Court on their behalf. It therefore lies ill and foul in the mouth of these Counsels and their clients before me that they know nothing of these proceedings”. The Judge therefore advised that “We need to be candid with the Court whenever we are wrong or right. Candid positions when even a party is wrong will spare him of the punitive and coercive powers of the Court.” The Judge, at this stage went on to say that “In this instance case, the Counsel and their clients have lied to the Court in the case of available documentary proof of events in this Court”. It is therefore not surprising that Mr. Fred Adjei and his fellow encroachers would deliberately accuse officials of the CSIR of lying. The evidence clearing shows that lying is their mother tongue!!! Now to the substantive issue: have they been able to set aside the default judgment given to the CSIR? Remember that Mr. Fred Adjei claims that on 25 April 2013 they successfully set aside the judgment given to CSIR. He states on myjoyonline.com that the Judge in his ruling on 25 April 2013 stated that "The foregoing authorities all show that the courts are not happy in driving a defendant from the judgment seat or shutting him or her out because of a default. I will, in the interest of justice and fair play set aside the default judgment upon..." The CSIR-Animal Research Institute finds it disingenuous and dishonest on the part of Mr. Fred Adjei to have ended where he did. I will therefore, in the interest of fair play complete the statement which reads: “… … …. I will, in the interest of justice and fair play set aside the default judgment upon the following terms and conditions. These should be followed and or obeyed to the letter without any further excuses. 1. Cost of GHC 200.00 against each applicant herein to be paid to the respondent 2. These costs should be paid on or before the 10th day of May 2013 3. The costs should be paid before any document could be filed for and on behalf of the applicants which should be complied with on or before the 10th day of May 2013 4. I grant extension of time for appearances and or defences to be filed for and on behalf of the applicants. This should be filed on or before the 10th day of May 2013. I have arrived at this decision taking into consideration the time this case had been in Court i.e. 2006 to 2013, a span of eight (8) years.” The questions to ask Mr. Adjei is whether they have fulfilled these conditions, and whether the Judge has listened to them thereafter as indicated in his ruling? These encroachers clearly betray their intention in the statement made by one Mr. Michael Debrah, an executive member of the association of the encroachers that they “are willing to help the CSIR to fence the remaining plot to ward off new encroachers until the final case is decided”. Have we at anytime in point, as an Institute, appealed to the encroachers for assistance to fence “the remaining plot to ward off new encroachers”? What moral right has he and his colleagues, as encroachers, got to stop other encroachers? They also said “We put in our petition that even if they want us to buy a land elsewhere for them so that they will go and settle the animals there and the office will be at where it is now, we are ready to do it." By these statements it can be seen that the real intention of these people is not that they are in need of land for development. They clearly show that they know where new lands are! They don’t lack monies; they show that they can pay for new lands!! They have one aim: to destroy CSIR-Animal Research Institute!!! I guess they understand that CSIR-Animal Research Institute is not a cattle herding institute! I guess they know what it takes to run research with animals; and they also know the daily fuel, manpower and other logistics implications of their proposition!!! The chairman of the association of encroachers, Mr. Kwesi Owusu Poku on Monday the 11th March, 2013 stated in the Daily Graphic and I quote “Most of us have been deceived by the chiefs who claimed the government under former President John Kufour has released the land to them”. Should we as a Nation therefore be held hostage by people who themselves admit to having been deceived by some unscrupulous chiefs? Ghana has two options: 1. To agree to kill the only animal-bias research institute in the country by sympathizing with those who clearly look in the face of the law and spew out lies, whilst claiming ignorance 2. To stand by public officials who dedicate themselves to fight for the general good of our dear Nation by supporting the Institute to throw these nation wreckers off its neck. We as an Institute believe no well meaning Ghanaian would support this suicidal act by going for Option 1. These encroachers are on the offensive against the entire Nation. They have taken over school lands! They have taken over lands for hospitals!! They have attacked university lands!!! They have captured prime agricultural lands for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture!!! And now they have turned their attention on CSIR lands (i.e. CSIR-Crops Research Institute, CSIR-Soil Research Institute, CSIR- Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-Animal Research Institute, CSIR-Water Research Institute, etc). These voracious individuals are not about to stop! No State institution is safe if this trend is not checked. The CSIR-Animal Research Institute therefore wishes to state to the encroachers and the general public that we are not interested in any supposed assistance from law breakers. They must keep off our property and allow CSIR serve the entire Nation, and the International Research Community, to which the Institute belongs. Thank you very much for your attention Peter Asiedu Local Secretary Research Staff Association CSIR-Animal Research Institute