By 12 O’Clock midnight, Sunday , what used to be an enviable edifice of a multi-million dollar printing and packaging factory belonging Raymond Archer, Publisher of the Enquirer newspaper was reduced to dust.
Acting on “Orders from Above” a team of heavily armed policemen led by National Security Operates stormed the Trade Fair premises last night with bulldozers and flattened the ultra-modern US$ 10 million factory of Universal Labels & Packaging Co. Ltd and Color Planet belong to Mr. Archer despite a pending lawsuit.
The distraught Chief Executive Officer of the company, Raymond Archer was utterly shocked that the Dr. Agnes Adu-headed Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFC) could simply flaunt legal processes to destroy a factory that employs over 120 Ghanaians.
At the scene of the destruction, Whatsup News gathered that the order to destroy the factory came from the Jubilee House. It is unclear on whose command, however, there are reports that the CEO of the GTFC has a rather curious friendship with Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the cousin and chief advisor to President Akufo Addo.
Whatsup News can report that Finance Minster Ken Ofori-Atta usurped the powers of the Trade Minister to directly sign the appointment letter of Dr. Agnes Adu, in what has been described as “family and friends” appointment typically used to describe the influx of family members of President Akufo Addo in key positions of government.
“I got a call from our security that there was a team of armed policemen and set of bulldozers demolishing my factory, so we got here and lo and behold the whole factory with these equipment were under destruction,” Raymond Archer explained.
“We built this factory ten years ago, we’ve installed new equipment, actually, there are even new ones that are currently under installation and these cost us $10 million but we got here and the whole factory with everything inside has been demolished by the government.”
Mr. Archer who is a legal tenant on the premises of the GTFC explained to Whatsup News that he and several tenants at the premises were approached some three years ago about the intention of the GTFC to redevelop their facility, which resulted in a long-drawn legal suit.
“Four years ago, I was here when officials came that they want to redevelop the Trade Fair so I said okay. I’m a legal tenant and my construction was actually supervised by the Trade Fair. I’ve put in $10 million here…so they started doing a whole lot of things here which made me head to court,” he recalled.
Last week Wednesday, the GTFC reportedly went to secure a clandestine order from the court to lift an injunction placed on the redevelopment process by tenants of the GTFC. Raymond Archer who is the founder of the now-defunct Enquirer Newspaper said, when he caught wind of the new court order, he immediately asked hi lawyer to file an appeal. But the midnight raid was done in total disregard for the pending case.
“Last Wednesday they went to court to lift an injunction that the court had placed on the Trade Fair, so my lawyer immediately filed an appeal and a stay of execution which was served on them on Wednesday and Thursday. Then this midnight [Sunday] they come here with bulldozers, lock the gates so that no one can see, come here armed to the teeth just to break down the factory that we’ve built with our toil over ten years,” Mr Archer narrated.
Already, the GTFC is facing a number of other legal challenges from hundreds of other tenants who have warned of the GTFC’s illegal eviction moves.
Government plans to restructure the trade fair centre into a multi-purpose trade and convention centre. It has invited private investors into the project that is estimated to cost over US$ 1 billion.
Four companies are said to have been shortlisted for the project with a first phase covering over 100 acres.