The Hohoe Magistrate Court has sentenced Raphael Kumagah, a staff of the State Insurance Company (SIC), Hohoe Branch, to a sum of ¢1,200 for building a dwelling without a development permit.

Kumagah was also ordered by the Court to pay ¢800 as compensation to the Hohoe Municipal Assembly.

He was convicted on his own plea of being guilty of the charge and would serve eight months in prison if he defaults in paying the fines.

Presenting the facts of the case to the Court presided over by Edith Lucy Dzormeku, Frank Azila-Gbettor, Prosecuting disclosed that the convict had put up a house at Gbi-Abansi.

He said on February 10, last year, the Hohoe Municipal Development Control Taskforce, on official duty to check development projects realised the convict had put up a structure at the said location within the buffer of a storm drain without a development permit.

The Prosecutor said Kumagah was educated, asked to stop work and demolish the unauthorised structure but failed to comply.

He said on December 15, 2020, some working tools of the convict were seized while a final warning letter was served to him to produce permit documents within two weeks.

Mr Azila-Gbettor prayed the Court to compel the convict to demolish the structure from the buffer of the storm drain to avoid disaster when there is a downpour.