When Rev. Lawrence Lamina first took to the streets on November, 2018 with orphans, blind students, and persons with disabilities to protest the alleged sale of land belonging to Echoing Hills Village at Madina-Nsamanpom, many Ghanaians dismissed him as alarmist.

Few listened. Fewer cared.   At the time, Rev. Lamina, head of the Echoing Hills Village, warned that powerful interests were scheming to carve up land meant for some of Ghana’s most vulnerable citizens. He alleged that one Anthony Mensah was attempting to sell portions of the land allocated to the orphanage to private developers.

Instead of support, Rev. Lamina faced backlash.  

In 2019, his reputation suffered a devastating blow when he was falsely accused of child abuse — allegations that insiders say were amplified in the media and helped destroy his public image. Rev. Lamina maintained his innocence and insisted the attacks were meant to silence his resistance to the land takeover.

Years later, history appears to be vindicating him.

Today, large portions of the Echoing Hills land have reportedly been sold to private individuals, leaving the orphanage struggling with limited operational space.  Anthony Mensah, who spearheaded the land allocations, is now deceased, having died about four years ago  after significant parts of the land had already changed hands.

For the residents of Echoing Hills Village, including orphans, blind women, and persons living with disabilities ,  the consequences are real and painful.

Recently, residents staged another protest, accusing individuals linked to the late  Anthony Mensah AKA ‘Paul Saul’ , of continuing attempts to sell the land. Speaking to the media, some of the physically challenged residents expressed fear that their only refuge could soon disappear.

Rev. Lamina says the betrayal runs deep.

According to him, Mensah initially approached the orphanage with promises to develop an ultra-modern facility capable of housing over 600 persons with disabilities. Instead, Lamena alleges, the land was gradually parcelled out to private developers, with little benefit to the orphanage or the vulnerable residents it serves.

“They took almost everything,” he lamented, including farmland once used to rear animals and feed the children at the centre.

The controversy has also drawn in traditional authorities. The Chief of Obojo, Nii Joseph Torgbor Obodai II, reportedly indicated that although the land originally reverted to the Obojo Stool after being allocated to Social Welfare in the 1970s, there remains a critical clause: portions reserved for persons with disabilities must not be touched.

That clause now sits at the heart of the growing dispute. For many observers, the unfolding events raise troubling questions: How did land meant for the vulnerable slip into private hands?

Who benefited?  And why were early warnings ignored?  Above all, the story is reshaping the legacy of Rev. Lawrence Lamina.

Once vilified, ridiculed, and publicly disgraced, he is now increasingly viewed as a man who stood alone against a system that refused to listen and paid dearly for it.

As the dust settles, one truth is becoming harder to ignore:

Time, as the old saying goes, has vindicated him. Today most of the disability persons have left the orphanage and gone back to the streets to beg for food and alms because nothing remains at the orphanage to feed them. Orphans and persons living with disabilities have returned to the streets, alleging ongoing encroachment and land sales linked to earlier transactions.

Investigations reveal that the pictures and videos shown on national tv purported s depicting abuse of children at the orphanage were orchestrated and were taken when  Rev. Lamina had travelled outside the country. He had no idea about how those =videos were obtained or they came by them Today, Rev, Lamina is alive and running a non profit organization he established forty years ago and many young men  he trained over time  are  still working with him  while some are working in various fields in Ghana.

Echoing Hills village is a facility established to improve the lives of persons with disabilities and the vulnerable also provides skills like carpentry, agriculture, animal husbandry education etc. There are no more of such programs because no space to run it. The residents need these skills to reintegrated into the society. Its was providing skills and education