Crisis looms at Lands Commission

Board members and the entire working body of the Lands Commission have reacted strongly against the latest moves to hurriedly effect changes in the administrative set-up at the secretariat initiated by the Minister of Lands and Forestry, Prof. Kasim Kasanga. Known party faithful have been selected to fill the places.

Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs Grace A. Orleans, has written to the Minister, pointing out to him that the Commission is an independent body under the Office of the President and that Members of the Board are not answerable to him, the workers also in a petition to the President, cried foul against the removal of the Executive Secretary, Dr W. Odame Larbi to the Ministry.

In her letter to the Minister, in reply to the one sent to her, informing her about the re-constitution of the Commission, the chairperson, pointed out to the Minister that the Commission draws it powers from Section 3 of Act 483, which places it under the Office of the President.

"When a person is appointed into that High Office of Chairman of Lands Commission, he is sworn into office by the President and given his warrant of appointment and then takes the different oaths before he assumes office." The Minster had written to the Chairperson to leave office almost immediately, while requesting her to prepare comprehensive handing-over notes for "the person", who would be taking over from her three days-later.

Mrs Orleans questioned the absurdity and the contradictory nature of the "orders" and wondered how the two instructions could be carried out at the same time. Although the chairperson acknowledged the fact Prof. Kasanga is the Sector Minister, she was appointed under Article 70 (i)(d)(iii) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 5 (i)(a) of the Lands Commission Act 1994 (Act 483).

She also referred to the transfer of the Executive Secretary and described it as irregular, since the officer, is also a member of the Commission by virtue the same Act and thus cannot be treated or just moved around, at the pleasure of the Minister likes any Director of the Ministry.

Earlier, the chairperson had made references to the way the Minister had deliberately kept Dr Odame Larbi out by sending him outside Accra, on "frivolous" assignments. "If you have any difficulty in appreciating the points raised by me, you may contact the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Legal Adviser, to the Government and he will explain matters to you," she pointed out.

In their petition to the President, workers of the Commission expressed shock at the changes and described Dr Odame Larbi, the Executive Secretary, who was being recalled as "a man of vision, integrity, brilliance, very competent, resourceful, selfless and hard working." They referred to many projects, which the office was undertaking.

These include: The Land Administration Project with the secretariat at the Lands Commission; a programme to improve the revenue base of the Commission and ongoing training programme for the staff. Others are joint programme with the judiciary on finding solutions to the numerous conflicting court judgements on land administration in the country and the restructuring of the Commission to make it more responsive, effective and output oriented, among others.

Apart from the fact that frequent administrative changes at the Commission, in the past, had adversely affected stability and long-term planning, the workers described the latest development, in which both the chairperson and the Executive Secretary were being replaced at the same time, as most unusual.

“It's a Negative Change,” some workers declared, after appending their signatures to the petition. Meanwhile, a crisis looms at the Commission.