The Tema Circuit court "A" has granted an out of court settlement of the alleged forcible takeover of the management of public toilets in Ashaiman, by some youth perceived to be National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters.
Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, MP for Ashaiman Constituency initiated the move to get the case withdrawn for amicable settlement, to ensure peace between the NDC supporters and the operators of the toilets during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
Mr. Modestus Kpordovia, Counsel for the NDC supporters and Mr. Sam Kyere for the operators, agreed to the settlement and announced it to the court.
The presiding judge, Mrs Laurenda Owusu subsequently granted the request and adjourned the case to March 3, for the outcome of the settlement to be announced to the court.
Soon after the NDC took over the administration of the country on January 7, 2009, the youth of the NDC forcibly took over the management of all the 18 public toilets in Ashaiman from those who were operating them during the NPP administration.
This created controversy in Ashaiman and the operators lodged a civil case against the NDC members in the Tema court for which Tuesday, February 10, was fixed for hearing.
However, on that day the supporters went to court but the case was not called and they were alleged to have boarded three vehicles, and displaying placards besieged the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (AshMA) and attacked the Coordinating Director, Mr Kwamina Akwa, destroyed his spectacle and snatched his mobile phone.
Later, lawyer Agbesi held a press conference and condemned the conduct of his supporters and apologized to the officials of the Assembly as well as the party.
He however, explained to the conference that in 2000/2001 when the NPP gained power, some NPP functionaries forcibly took over the management of the toilets from private people perceived to be NDC members and formed a company "SANITES LIMITED", operated them without rendering accounts to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) as should have been the procedure.
This led to the loss of GH¢65,000.00 to the assembly and this was written off as a bad debt.