After its office building was forcefully dismantled to make room for the National Cathedral project, a real estate business, Waterstone Realty Limited, threatened to sue the government for failing to pay it.
The company's officials, whose patience appears to have entirely run out, have suggested that they will be asking the government for US$67 million in compensation for its disappointment in carrying out its part of a deal.
The Lands and Estate Officer of Waterstone Realty, Habibu Abdul Hafiz, stated that their troubles began as early as 2017 when their building was forcibly torn down to make room for the construction of the national edifice, which was observed by GhanaWeb.
He stated that even though the government had given them another piece of property, they had yet to get access to it since another business is now residing there.
The government will give us Ridge land sometime around 2020. We agreed to the allocation and paid the associated fees, but since that time we haven't had access to the property that was given to us. We discovered that another firm was using the property, thus it was occupied.
"We went to the Ministry of Works and Housing and informed them that we were unable to access the property because it was being used by someone else, and that we (sic) the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. The Secretary of the National Cathedral, then the Lands Commission So, as of right now, we are attempting to have a conversation with our attorneys before moving on to the next phase, which will be the legal action, he said.
According to Habibu Abdul Hafiz, his business is now asking the government for $67 million after taking into account the passage of time, current economic hardships, and the rise in building value.
"In truth, the building was appraised in 2017 and was stated to be worth $4.7 million as of 2018. We should be looking at $67 million after taking into account all the economic circumstances and what has occurred over the last five or four years.
He said that all of their efforts to persuade the government to keep its pledge to reimburse them had failed.
It should be noted that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, was the one who initially raised the alarm on Waterstone Realty's intentions to challenge the government on this issue.
He claimed in June 2022 that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government owed Waterstone Realty Ltd. compensation in the amount of $6.5 million as part of his campaign to uncover the unlawful violations relating to the construction of the National Cathedral.
"Waterstone Realty Ltd. had its premium high-rise flats demolished. According to valuations, they are entitled to compensation of about $6.5 million. That amounts to a stunning GH1.6 million at the currency rate of today. Just consider what GH51.6 million combined with the other staggering remuneration packages might do in the present-day struggling economy, he said.
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