Media publications alleging that COCOBOD CEO, Dr Randy Abbey, and National Security Chief, Richard Jakpa, seized a private property at Tse Addo in Accra have been dismissed as false.

Lawyers for the owners of the said property say the publications have no merit and must be dismissed with the contempt they deserve.

Read the full statement below:

RE: Cocobod boss Randy Abbey and national security’s Richard Japka storm Tse Addo; forcibly seize private property under construction

The attention of our clients, Mesdames Comfort Adjeley Odamtten, Salomey Adjeley Odamtten and Kai Odamtten, have been drawn to a publication which appeared in the media on Saturday, May 10, 2025, with the above-stated caption.

The said publication, which was authored by an anonymous writer, sought to put out a totally false narrative of events concerning our clients’ parcel of land and the circumstances under which officers of National Security Secretariat and Dr. Randy Abbey had to step in to save our clients from being unlawfully and blatantly dispossessed of their land by one Poppy Osman, a notorious land-guard at Tse Addo, who claims to be acting for and on behalf of a faceless private developer. 

Our clients are the owners of a 0.20-acre parcel of land located at Tse Addo, behind the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre, Accra. Our clients inherited the said parcel of land from their father, late E.K. Odamtten, who had a grant of the land from the East Dadekotopon Development Trust and had been in undisturbed possession for over 22 years, having constructed a two-bedroom residential facility thereon.

On the 13^th day of February 2025 at around 2 am thereabout, Poppy Osman in the company of some hardened land-guards armed with sophisticated weapons besieged our clients’ property, forcibly evicted our clients together with their infant children and successfully demolished their residence on the land with total impunity amidst threats of violence to them if they resisted.

After the said Poppy Osman succeeded in unlawfully evicting our clients, he began an earnest construction of a 12-storey building by digging an almost 20-feet foundation, which caused grievous damage to the fence wall and properties of adjoining land owners, including that of Dr. Randy Abbey’s property, a neighbour of our clients.

Following the unlawful actions of Poppy Osman, our clients sent petitions to La Police and the Property Fraud Unit of the C.I.D. Headquarters, but had no favourable response from them. An enquiry was also made at the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, which responded by a letter dated 28th April 2025 that they had not granted any permit to Poppy Osman or his alleged principal to undertake any construction work on our clients’ land. The Assembly indicated further that they had, on the contrary, issued a ‘Stop Work' notice to Poppy Osman to desist from his illegal construction.

In their frustration and haplessness, our clients petitioned the National Security Secretariat to come to their aid. The National Security Secretariat approached Poppy Osman to provide his permits and other title deeds by which he had unlawfully occupied our clients’ land and was undertaking the illegal construction thereon.

Poppy Osman obviously failed to provide any supporting documents or permits. Thus, on Friday, May 9, 2025, the National Security Secretariat sent in a team led by Richard Jakpa to decisively halt the unlawful construction by Poppy Osman on our clients’ legitimate parcel of land and the damage he was causing to the structural integrity of adjoining properties.

It is, therefore, a palpable falsehood and gross misinformation for the anonymous writer in the above-stated publication to claim that officers of National Security engaged in some illegal acts. They have rather restored peace and order on our clients’ parcel of land and the damage that was being caused to the properties of adjoining property owners.

It is absolutely not true that Dr. Randy Abbey has used National Security to intimidate or abuse the property rights of any of his neighbours in the area. On the contrary, he was also a victim of the damaging effects of the blatant illegal construction works by Poppy Osman. Residents in the area, and especially our clients, are rather grateful to Dr. Randy Abbey and the National Security team for restoring law and order in the area, with particular regard to the illegal land grab by Poppy Osman of our clients’ land.  

Kofi Bosompem.
Kuenyehia & Nutsukpui
Lawyers for Comfort Adjeley Odamtten,
Salomey Adjeley Odamtten and Kai Odamtten