Traditional Rulers Must Support Fight Against Land Guards - Amevu

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr John Peter Amewu, has asked traditional rulers to support the government to tackle the menace of land guards head on.

He said the activities of land guards posed a great challenge to effective land administration and had the potential to derail the government’s effort at implementing some of its policies.

“Development cannot take place in a vacuum without the involvement of chiefs and traditional rulers because they are key stakeholders in the development process. Therefore, I want to reiterate that the government is willing to collaborate with chiefs to deal with all issues affecting land administration so that we can jointly implement development projects,” he said.

Call on chief

He made the call when he paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Osu Traditional Area, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, in Accra last Tuesday.

He was accompanied by his two deputies and some officials of the Lands Commission.

The visit was also to discuss key issues that border on land security.

Mr Amewu reiterated the government’s commitment to work with chiefs to ensure that governance was brought to the doorstep of the citizens.

He gave an assurance that the government would do everything possible to ensure that outstanding land issues within Osu and other parts of the country were addressed through stakeholder collaboration.

Mr Amewu presented some office equipment, including computer and accessories, to the Osu Traditional Council to facilitate record keeping and effective land management.

Chief’s comment

For his part, Nii Dowuona lauded the minister’s effort, especially in the payment of royalties to the Osu Stool.

“We need the royalties to be paid on time in order to transform the lives of the people in the Osu Traditional Area, since the area is confronted with many challenges ranging from welfare to infrastructural developments,” he said.

He further stated that lands taken over by the state had not been accounted for, in spite of the commitment of the Osu Stool to help make the country a better place.

He lamented that certain persons at the Lands Commission had made it a point to indiscriminately grant leases of the stool lands without consulting the stool heads.

Nii Dowuona, therefore, urged the government to confer with the Osu Stool to re-strategise in order to make it a win-win situation for both the government and the Osu Traditional Council, while eliminating third parties in the land acquisition process.