The Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Obeng Asare, popularly known as A-Plus, says residents are preparing to stage a demonstration over the longstanding land dispute between Gomoa and Effutu.
His comments follow recent clashes at New Winneba, which left three people dead, 17 injured and several properties damaged.
Speaking to Citi News, A-Plus said the situation in the area was currently calm but residents were mobilising for a protest over what he described as the police’s handling of the conflict.
“The area is very calm, yes, but we are going to mobilise, we are going to demonstrate. The police came in there to murder people. The police came with orders to murder people, and we are not going to let it slide. We are going to protest in our numbers,” he said.
A-Plus said he had previously written to the Lands Commission seeking clarification on the boundaries between Gomoa and Effutu in an effort to help prevent further disputes.
According to him, after receiving a response from the Lands Commission, he petitioned the Ministry of the Interior, urging it to intervene over what he described as the construction of a police station in a disputed area.
“I have written a letter to the Lands Commission, because I knew there were land disputes in the area. So I wrote a letter to the Lands Commission, asking them to give me my boundaries and Effutu boundaries so we avert this whole issue of land disputes,” he said.
“When I received it, I wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry, attached the report and stated that this is what they have said, and based on this, I think that you, as the Interior Ministry, must take action to remove a police station that has been built in the disputed area and named Effutu North Police Station, and you go further into their area to build Effutu North Police Command. What it means is that you are taking sides, and therefore, you are declaring that area an Effutu land,” he added.
The MP’s planned demonstration comes as security agencies continue to maintain a presence in New Winneba following the recent violence.
The clashes were reportedly linked to the longstanding dispute over land boundaries between communities in the Gomoa and Effutu areas.
A-Plus has, however, not provided details on the date or route of the proposed demonstration.
Authorities are yet to publicly respond to his allegations concerning the police or his concerns about the location of the police station.
