Management of the Ghana Trade Fair Company Ltd (GTFCL) has prevailed over a case of contempt filed against them by some aggrieved tenants of the site.

The Court of Appeal ruled in favour for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Agnes Adu and her team following a demolishing exercise which led to the pulling down of some business structures on February 16, 2020.

According to officials from GTFCL, their actions was in accordance of a High Court Ruling made on February 12, 2020 which allowed them to demolish those structures.

Ruling

The Court of Appeal in its ruling stated that the tenants had not proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the Chairman and CEO of GTFCL had committed contempt as alleged and as such dismissed the tenants’ case.

The ruling will, however, gave a nod that the CEO and the Board of Directors go ahead with the planned redevelopment of the stretch of land belonging to Trade Fair.

Current status

The Board of Directors have now succeeded in vacating all tenants from the premises of GTFCL.

The move, with legal backing would allow for the sites long-awaited redevelopment to begin later this year.

Meanwhile, Dr Adu has already hinted of plans to attract US$2 billion in private investment to develop the Trade Fair into a destination of preference for organisers of conferences and large-scale events.

The redevelopment plans include the building of a new five-star hotel.

Background

 The GTFCL defended a demolition exercise that took place at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra which led to the pulling down of some structures.

The affected buildings included structures belonging to Universal Labels & Packaging Co. Ltd and Colour Planet.

The lifting of a court injunction, which many tenants claimed not to be aware of, paved the way for the exercise.

The affected tenants had earlier secured a court order to prevent the Trade Fair Company from continuing with the exercise which started in May last year.

Contrary to the tenants’ claims that they had not been given an eviction notice, the GTFCL said it had informed all of them about an upcoming redevelopment project and gave them a mandatory six-month notice on July 10, 2018, for them to vacate the site.

Even before that, GTFCL had served them with a written notification three years ahead of the six-month notice.

Despite the expiration of the tenancy agreements, GTFCL said it has been cooperating with the businesses with the aim of finding the least disruptive means to achieving the goal of redevelopment.