An Accra Fast Track High Court saved several hundreds from being homeless when it placed an interim injunction on the demolition exercise being carried out in the Ga West District of Accra. Late last week, over one thousand residents of Mallam, a suburb of Accra, led by their Counsel, Lawyer Poku Adusei of the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) secured an interim injunction preventing the Ga West District Assembly and their agents from continuing with the exercise until the final determination of the suit filed against the exercise. In the suit, which joins the Ga West District Assembly and the Attorney General as defendants, the residents contended that "if the defendants are not restrained through the grant of an interim injunction, they will go ahead with the harassment, demolition and the illegal eviction, thereby violating our fundamental human rights to livelihood, life, property and housing as enshrined in the Constitution, 1992 and other international human rights instrument for which Ghana is a signatory." Authorities of the Ga West District Assembly on July 10 commenced the demolition of structures that the assembly considered to have been built in waterways following recent flooding in parts of Accra, especially Mallam and surrounding areas in the district that killed seven people. The exercise, subjectively received both criticisms and commendations from residents. While those whose homes were pulled down or were earmarked for demolition condemned the exercise, other residents who were not affected hailed the authorities. With the exercise set to continue, the 'candidates for demolition' describing themselves as traders, carpenters, masons, tailors, repairers and public servants who have lived in Mallam and surrounding communities for between 10 and 50 years, prayed the court to place an interim injunction on the exercise. They claimed that they are lessees of parcels of land belonging to the Gbawe Kwatei Family of Accra, such that some of the lands were leased as far back as 1967, 1977, 1978 and 1991. They pointed out that after being granted their leases, they obtained permission from the defendants to build their respective houses in Mallam. They informed the court that on July 6 and 9 this year, officials, servants and agents of the defendants began marking their homes for demolition without any prior notice being given to them. And on July 10, the defendants commenced the demolition and forced eviction exercises against them. They said the assembly and its agents destroyed their properties, threatened them with heavily armed police and caused some evictees to sleep in the open without shelter. Subsequently, the defendants issued another ultimatum asking the applicants to demolish their own houses and leave or be forced to leave their homes through further demolition. Contending further their innocence, the defendants cited the interdiction of six building inspectors for their alleged involvement in the issuance of 'fake' permits to some of the residents. They stressed that "the forced eviction is illegal and is in violation of articles 13, 15, 18, 23, 24 and 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana." Meanwhile, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) an international human rights NGO has condemned the exercise and requested "that the Ga West District Assembly immediately cease all planned forced evictions and compensate those who have suffered due to the demolition. "Forced evictions are in gross violation of Ghana's national laws, regional and international human rights obligations, including the rights to adequate housing, which includes the right of persons not to be forcibly evicted." COHRE said in a statement that Ghana is a party to several international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which protect the right to adequate housing and so prohibit the practice of forced evictions. International law demands that governments only evict in very exceptional circumstances and after consideration of alternatives to eviction. If evictions are deemed necessary, they must follow due process and no one should be rendered homeless or put in a worst situation than they were before. "For an eviction to be considered lawful, it must be shown that all alternatives to eviction have been carefully considered in consultation with those to be affected. Should the eviction be necessary even after such a consideration, adequate and proper notice must be given, and legal remedies must be provided including compensation and relocation. None of these procedures seemed to have been followed." The NGO argued that based on its own investigations "it is clear that international standards on forced evictions had not been complied with." It said there are further planned forced evictions of hundreds more in the surrounding suburbs such as Gbawe, Anyaa, Santa Maria, and Mile 7 even though the earlier forced evictions have deprived hundreds of residents, including women and children, of their homes, education and source of livelihoods. "Many residents have become destitute and homeless. They are now living outside on the rubble that was once their homes and have become victims to the elements, mosquitoes, robbers and other malfeasances. The exercise has interrupted the educations of children of school going age, for they have no where to sleep or study properly. Parents are at a loss as to what to do," said COHRE. The human rights body quoted one opinion leader for the area as saying "They came and treated us like animals. We have been living here for over 40 years, we are Ghanaians yet we are treated like animals." Source: Public Agenda