Don’t take ownership of lands from Chiefs – Rawlings

The former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings says Government must not take-over the ownership of lands from Chiefs and traditional rulers.

Ex-President of Botswana rekindled the debate on the relevance of the chieftaincy institutions and the role of chiefs and traditional leaders in land ownership and administration during a speech at a forum organised by the Centre for Democratic Development.

Chiefs and traditional leaders are custodians and administrators of a large chunk of land in the country.

But sharing his country’s experience of Good Governance, Ex Botswana President Festus Mogae cited the disempowering of chiefs and traditional leaders in land ownership and administration as a notable political decision that yielded results.

Mr. Mogae said the move was a way of reforming the roles key traditional institutions play to ensure a peaceful and purposeful articulation between traditional and modern governance institutions.

But Former President Rawlings is not in favour of government’s take-over of land ownership and administration from chiefs and traditional leaders in the country.

Mr. Rawlings in an exclusive interview with XYZ News said what worked for Botswana may not work of Ghana.

“I don’t know how many estate groups they have over there and whether they have the antagonistic situation that we have. Their population is not as large as ours so our situation is a bit more complex” former President Rawlings said.

He added that “it is about time the chiefs, traditional leaders, government and the public sit down on how best we can approach this thing and make sure that some level of integrity and accountability is restored into the usage of land”.