The Chiefs and residents of Gbetsile in the Kpone-Katamanso district in the Greater Accra Region have drawn out the battle line for a blood bath with land guards operating in the area.

Their vow is borne out of activities of land guards concerning more than 1500 acres of land allegedly owned by Sino-Africa Development Company Limited (SADCL), which have resulted in the death of scores of their people. They are contesting ownership of the land because it was not bought from the right channel.

They are getting increasingly frustrated because their numerous complaints to government have gone unattended to.

Gbetsile Mantse, Nii Teye Kojo (I), told Joy News they have engaged Jospong Group of Companies – parent company of SADCL to have the issue resolved but there has been no result.

He says the unbridled activities of land guards in the area has grown to the extent that recently there were gun shots in Zenu which took a delegation from government to have the issue addressed.

Sensing no end to the constant attacks, he said, they have decided to reach out to the land guards in their hideouts to settle scores.

Nii Teye Kojo  said they are ready to face the land guards “boot for boot in the bush". 

He believes a peaceful settlement of the issue is off the negotiation plate saying the only option would be for them to shed blood.

As a testament of the consequences of land guard activities in the area, Nii Tei Kodjo says the District Chief Executive (DCE), Alhaji E. A. Tetteh, was nearly lynched by the land guards but for his police escort adding "This is not what we want as a people."

Residents of the area are seething with anger over what they say is the terrorising way land guards treat them.

One resident who spoke to Joy News says they have been terrorised for far too long and it is about time something was done about it.

“If the MP fails to come to our aid and blood starts to flow we will see it," he said, adding, they have restrained themselves over a period of time out of the respect they have for their leaders.

Another resident also lamented about the neglect of government for their challenges. “If the government feels we are not part of the country, they should tell us,” she told Joy News. 

Adom FM’s Kwame Yankah who was in the area reported “the stakes are high” because of the disputed land which has been walled.

According to him, the Member of Parliament (MP) in the area who also doubles as the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, is aware of the nightmares of the people but has simply turned a blind eye to them.

Until something was done to salvage the situation, the battle line remained drawn for bloodshed in the area, Kwame Yankah reports.

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