Former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay has alleged that the order for the demolition of his son’s Polo Beach Club at La Beach in Accra came directly from President John Dramani Mahama.
Speaking at the NPP’s National Delegates Conference on Saturday, October 3, Mr Blay said the allegation was one of the complaints people should hear against the NDC government and the President.
“I feel sorry. It is one of the complaints that I think people should hear against the NDC government and against President John Mahama, that he himself ordered it. I know,” he said.
He argued that the demolition should not have gone ahead because the question of who owns the property is still before the courts. According to him, the case has been pending for about two to three years with no final ruling.
“The court is yet to determine it. Then you complain to the President and the President orders that they should go and break it. He [Mahama] has no respect for law,” he alleged.
Mr Blay, who was speaking to Citi News in Kumasi, questioned the involvement of the President and National Security while the dispute was still before the court.
“Is that law? Is that what is done in the country? Unless the court gives the order,” he said.
He rejected any suggestion that the club was squatting.
“My son has acquired land from the La Stool and did business on the land that belongs to the La Stool originally. They’ve leased it out. And we are working on it,” he said.
The demolition took place on Friday, October 2, in a security-backed clearance operation involving the Ghana Armed Forces’ 48 Engineer Regiment and the Ghana Police Service.
Deputy Chief of Staff Stan Dogbe has said the action followed a request from the Labadi Beach Hotel and was supervised by National Security.
SSNIT, which owns both the Labadi Beach Hotel and the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, has cited concerns over unauthorised occupation and security at the beachfronts.
Mr Blay’s claim that the President was personally involved has not been independently established in the public accounts of the operation so far.
