A Cape Coast High Court has fined Nana Kwesi Mensah III, Chief of Kwaprow, and John Kilson Mensah, a Kwaprow Assembly Member, GHS6000 each for contempt of court.

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On October 11, 2022, the two defendants forcibly entered Solomon Faakye's office, the head of the legal affairs office at the University of Cape Coast, and threatened him with death if he continued to handle cases involving their and their community's encroachment on UCC land.

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Counsels for the applicants, Philip Young, Anastasia Asante and Emmanuel Yaw Hukpatsi, argued that the respondents’ action, which sought to disrupt the work of officers of the court, brought the reputation of the court into disrepute and was therefore contemptuous of the court.

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The two offenders will each be imprisoned for three months in default.

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They signed a bond promising to behave well for 18 months by the High Court, which was presided over by Her Ladyship Malike Awo Woanyah Dey J.

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Encroachment of UCC Lands

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The UCC, has for some time now, under the leadership of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko-Boampong initiated several legal actions to recover the university’s legally acquired lands from some chiefs and to stop them from selling portions of the lands to unsuspecting Ghanaians.

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Land measuring over 400 acres was acquired for the University of Cape Coast by an Executive Instrument 13 of 1972. In January 2023, members of the governing council of UCC toured the university lands that had been encroached upon by some private developers and individuals.

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The purpose of the visit was to enable the council members to see at firsthand the level of encroachment on the university land.

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The council resolved to address the massive land encroachment and had taken lawful steps to reclaim all encroached portions of land.

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