National Cathedral – Govt risks paying $8m judgment debt
The government is at risk of paying about $8 million in judgment debts following its failure to compensate a real estate company, Waterstone Realty Limited, whose property was compulsorily acquired as part of lands annexed for the construction of the National Cathedral.
In 2018, the government took over Waterstone Realty’s two-storey multi-purpose building adjacent the Physicians and Surgeons complex at Ridge and demolished the building as part of the lands acquired for the construction of the National Cathedral.
The property was part of other buildings in the Ridge enclave. The others were the Judicial Training Institute, bungalows for judges, the Scholarship Secretariat and Passport office. All these structures have been demolished to pave way for the project.
No compensation
Facts on record indicate that as of the time the property, valued at more than $4million, by an independent valuer, was compulsorily acquired by the government in 2018 for the construction of the National Cathedral, Waterstone Realty Limited, had rented it to another company with rental income of more than $84,000 per annum.
The loss of this income led to loss of over 40 direct and indirect jobs.
Waterstone Realty had to refund $54,000 of already paid rent to a tenant at the time as the government wanted the building vacated within one month of notifying Waterstone of the decision to compulsorily acquire it for the construction of the National Cathedral.
This further strained the company’s financial position.
In August 2020, the government, acting through the Lands Commission, allocated another property within the Ridge enclave to Waterstone Realty Limited as compensation for the loss of its previous property, but the said property is being occupied by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) formerly BNI, making it impossible for Waterstone Realty to take possession of it.
For two years, efforts by the company for the government to compensate it with another property have yielded no results.
The company is threatening to go to court to enforce its rights.
Background
Per letters exchanged between the government and Waterstone Realty Limited, and other documents we have sighted , on May 30, 2018, the then Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John -Peter Amewu, wrote to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Waterstone Realty Limited informing him about the decision of the government to take over the property for the construction of the National Cathedral.
“Being an occupant of a portion of the said land, which would be affected by the construction, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources wishes to engage with you towards the smooth relocation of your outfit/property to pave way for the demolition and subsequent construction of the Cathedral project.
Due to the urgency of the Cathedral project, it is expected that the site will be vacated by 1st July, 2018 to enable vacant possession to be given to the contractors,” the letter indicated.
On June 4, 2018, Waterstone Realty responded to the Minister’s letter and pleaded for an additional one month to enable its tenant, who was using the building as a business premises, relocate to another place, but this was rejected by the government.
After vacating the property, Waterstone Realty wrote to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on September 12, 2018, to inquire about when it would be compensated.
The company, in the letter, pleaded with the government to compensate it urgently to prevent further loss of employees and impacting negatively on its business.
The then Acting Technical Director of Lands at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, James E.K Dickson, responded to the letter on October 8, 2018 and assured Waterstone Realty that the government would soon address its concerns.
Allocation of new property
Consequently, the then Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Sulemana Mahama, on August 12, 2020, wrote to Waterstone Realty Limited, informing the company of an allocation of another property on a plot of land, measuring 1.26 acres of land at the Ridge residential area, to replace the one that was compulsorily acquired by the government for the construction of the National Cathedral.
Waterstone Realty, in a letter of acceptance dated August 14, 2020, accepted the land, and paid the required administrative fee of GHC1, 500.
Inability to possess property
However, on March 3, 2021, lawyers for Waterstone Realty Limited wrote to the Minster of Works and Housing about its client inability to take possession of the new property because it was already being occupied by another company.
The letter was copied to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission and the National Cathedral Secretariat.
There was no response from the government, which made the lawyers for Waterstone Realty Limited, to follow up with another letter dated May 20, 2021, to the Minister of Works and Housing, to drum home the unfair treatment meted out to its client.
“The question is, does it honour God to expropriate our client’s property for a National Cathedral Project without prompt payment of compensation?’’ the letter queried.
Once again, the government failed to respond to the letter, and this prompted the lawyers of Waterstone Realty to inform the Attorney –General (A-G) about its client intention to sue the government to enforce its right.
The letter to the A-G, dated October 1, 2021 stated that the new building allocated to Waterstone Realty as compensation was being occupied by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB).
The lawyers of Waterstone Realty followed up with a petition to the A-G on November 4, 2021 about the unfair treatment meted out to its client and the potential for it to generate into judgment debt against the state.
“We are by this petition being a citizen and not a spectator to bring to your high office the canker of indifference leading to a potential judgment debt,” the petition to the A-G read.
The government is yet to respond to the letters and petition of Waterstone Realty Limited, let alone address the injustice meted out to the company.
“The question is, does it honour God to expropriate our client’s property for a National Cathedral Project without prompt payment of compensation?’’
