The Osu State in Accra says the Achimota forest belongs to them.
Speaking to Lily Mohammed on Starr Today, Thursday Secretary to Osu Stool, Nii Otinkorang Ankrah stated the Owoo Family cannot claim ownership of the forest since they have been to court over the forest and won the case against Lands Commission of Ghana.
“Lands in Accra are owned by either the State, second by clan, third by a family. So if you have land in Accra you want you buy it from a family or a clan. If the Owoo family says the land is for them it means they bought it from the Osu State or a member who is from Osu and this is not the case. You cannot have a land in the bosom of the Osu State.
“There was an appeal in 2014 on the same case with the Land Commission and we won the case again pending the implementation of judgment only for us to wake up one morning and you tell us the land belongs to the Owoo family. It’s never possible,” the Secretary disclosed.
He continued: “We are also with the Minister discussing the same issue on the land. We will not go back to court directly, we will go to the Minister and let him know or otherwise on the issue on a negotiation table. If that does not happen then we will go back to court.”
Background
The Achimota Forest in Accra has not ‘been sold and will not be sold’, Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor has said.
It comes after reports suggesting the possible reclassification of the forest for commercial development by government hit social media.
The Instrument gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor stipulated that effective May 1, 2022, the land on which the Forest is located shall cease to be a forest reserve, pursuant to Section 19 of the Forest Act, 1927 (CAP. 157).
“The District Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority with jurisdiction over the land specified in the schedule, shall, within three months after the coming into force of this instrument, prepare for the approval of the Minister [of Lands], a master plan for the development of the land specified in the schedule,” the document noted.
However, the Owoo Family, the original owners of the Achimota forest have described as misleading ongoing public discourse on the state of their demands on government.
The Owoo Family in a statement indicated there are many distortions of facts since issues of the Achimota forest resurrected again.
According to the family, they have not had any compensation paid to them for the 1927 acquisition.
“The family have had to, in the past, accept and/or acquiesce to terms to enable it move on which it strongly believes have been unfair and unjust;
“The much talked about 19th August, 2016 ceremony which has been erroneously stated in the public as an occasion when land was released to the Owoo family is false and misleading. That ceremony was a sod cutting ceremony for the development of the Achimota Forest into an Eco-Tourism park. The Owoo Family were mere invitees/guest,” the family explained.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Isaac Dzidzoamenu
