SDO denies land lease accusations

The Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Meme, Southwest Region, David Koubout Aman, has decried allegations that he has signed a land lease document authorising a private individual to take over the former taxation premises in Kumba.

Aman expressed discontentment over the issue on September 17, in a chat with reporters over the controversy surrounding the said piece of land which is reportedly being coveted by business magnets in Kumba.

According to the SDO, those who are declaring to the world that he has signed a document authorising somebody to take possession over the land are pushing him beyond his competence as a Divisional Commander. He averred that, such persons are, in disguise, trying to push him out of his area and length of command.

Going by the SDO, his role in a land lease process such as the one involving the former taxation building in Kumba is to receive files and forward them to the competent quarters for further appraisal and approval. He said that, the law does not permit him to sign such documents on behalf of the State, given that there is a Minister in charge of State Property.

In the midst of the rumour and accusations on his office and person, the Meme administrator told reporters that he has instructed the personnel at the Land Service in his area of command to keep information concerning the land lease application files secret, except the Minister decides otherwise.

The civil administrator stated that the files of the two persons who have showed interest in having the land leased to them have been forwarded to the appropriate Ministerial Department, adding that the Minister has the prerogative to sign in favour of any of the applicants that best suits his appreciation, not the SDO.

The Kumba Taxation Building that lay waste adjacent the Central Police Station was set on fire during the nationwide riots of February 2008. Till date, the land and building remains abandoned, just like that of the former Treasury opposite the same area that was once disputed by the Southwest Elite Association, SWELA, and the Kumba I Council. Both parcels of land remain unattractive sites in the metropolis of Kumba.