"Golden Stool" Takes Over Kumasi Lands

… on orders of Kumasi High Court
Kumasi, July 19 (Chronicle) -- All lands at Adum in Kumasi – commonly referred to as Kumasi Part One (1) lands – hitherto vested in the government, has been divested to the Golden Stool as the lawful owner.

A Kumasi Fast Track High Court 4 presided over by Mr. Justice E. H. Ampadu on Monday July 10, 2006, in fulfillment of the avowed stance of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to retrieve all such lands, ordered that all that piece and parcel of land encompassing one mile square radius from the Kumasi Fort otherwise known as Kumasi Town lands or the Kumasi Part 1 land, is vested in the Golden Stool and the Kumasi State, the plaintiffs in a law suit filed last April.

Justice Ampadu said by operation of the law, the Golden Stool per its occupants is entitled to accrued rents exacted overtime on the said parcel of land.

The court as well ordered the Lands Commission to render accounts of all rents, including outstanding rents collected over the years in respect of the said land to the owner.

The Lands Commission is to furnish the Golden Stool with data on the property portfolio, inclusive of all encumbrances on all the properties within the Part 1 Land area in Kumasi.

The court entered judgment against the Lands Commission and made the orders on the strength of Order 23 of the High Court Civil procedure Rules, following the admission by the defendant, Lands Commission, that the Part 1 lands – the subject matter of the suit – belonged to the Golden Stool.

The defendant admitted in its statement of defence that the Government of Ghana is only a trustee, irrespective of the continuous administration and management of the subject lands.

Following this admission, the Lands Commission further indicated that the Golden Stool was entitled to the incomes accruing from the subject lands by way of rents as well as updates in the course of its trusteeship over the years.

In a statement of claim filed on April 24, 2006, the Golden Stool, per its occupant, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene claimed that the Kumasi Lands Ordinance of 1943 (CAP145) re-vested all lands hitherto vested in the British Crown to the Asantehene to replace the provisions of the Administration (Ashanti) Ordinance of 1902 (CAP 110), which vested the said lands in the Crown.

It was also stated that following allegations of mismanagement and misapplication of stool lands revenue in respect of lands stated in the Kumasi Lands Ordinance, the Justice Addo Committee in 1958 recommended in its report in the Ashanti Stool Lands Act of 1958 that the said lands be vested in the Governor General as a trustee for the Golden Stool and the Kumasi State.

The plaintiff averred that the promulgation of the Ashanti Stool Lands Act of 1958 and the State Property and Contracts Act of 1960 putting the Part 1 lands in trust for the Golden Stool was not intended to divest the Golden Stool of title in those lands and that the trust mentioned therein still persisted.

The Lands Commission per Mr. Asiedu Saahene said in an affidavit in opposition that the admissions as to the ownership of the land were basically on points of law and that rents in respect of the subject lands were in the past paid into the Stool lands accounts, now the Administration of Stool lands for disbursement to the beneficiary stool and other agencies in accordance with constitutional and statutory requirements under the Administration of Lands Act, 1962 and Act 267 of the 1962 Constitution and as such it had to be fully investigated before judgment was given.

But the court said under Order 23 rule 6 (1) and (2) of the High Court (Civil Procedure Rules) 2004 (C147) it is permissible for any party at any stage to move for judgment on admission of facts made either on pleadings or otherwise as upon such admission he may be entitled to, without waiting for the determination of any other question between the parties.

In March 2004, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II served notice of his intentions to re-enter the Part 1 lands because they belonged to him. ‘We are the owners and have the legitimate right to them” the Asantehene claimed when the Minister of Lands and Forestry, Prof. Dominic Fobih in the company of then Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. S. K. Boafo called on him at the Manhyia Palace.

In protest against the continued management and control of the said lands by the Lands Commission, the Asantehene said he had refused to collect royalties accruing from the lands, saying at the appropriate time we shall stand up for our rights if nothing is done about it in the not too distant future.

The Asantehene had as well warned the government (Lands Commission) to prepare to account for the accumulated royalties for the lands they managed all these years, adding teasingly “I will not take peanuts”.

Minister Fobih is on record to have assured that the government was considering a review of rights in the vested lands.