Landowners in Bolgatanga take Government institutions to court

Bolgatanga, April 4, GNA- Most Government institutions in the Upper East Region have come under threat lately, as Landowners have begun suing them in court and demanding that they either vacate their premises or pay compensation.

The Regional Minister, Mr Boniface Gambila, stated this in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Director of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Mr Samuel Nlary, at a one-day Participatory Land Management Capacity Building Workshop held in Bolgatanga on Wednesday.

It was organised by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom in partnership with the University of Cape Coast under a component dubbed "Communication for Research and Development - Ghana", and aimed at transforming Ghana's Land Policy Management for Sustainable Development.

In attendance were 21 Chiefs from the three Northern Regions. Mr Gambila indicated that there was the need for Chiefs and Tindamas who were the custodians of the land to persuade Landowners to dialogue with Government Institutions who occupy their land for favourable terms of settlement instead of taking them to court. He cited the premises of the Regional Fire Service and the construction of the Jubilee Park at Plaza in Bolgatanga, as some of the recent instances where Land Owners had dragged Government institutions to court.

Mr Gambila expressed his regret on the situation and noted that such uncompromising attitudes hampered development. He appealed to chiefs to strategise and find ways and means of curbing desertification in the region, saying that, in the past there were a lot of forest reserves and sacred groves in the region, but now depleted through negative human activities. He urged them to cultivate the habit of planting trees in their communities, and appealed to them to educate their subjects not to farm closer to rivers bodies.

The Project Coordinator of Leeds University, Mr. John Atibila, explained that the project, which commences this year, would run short courses in Land Management, Rural Land Use Planning, Rural Development, and Environmental Management.

It would also run degree courses in Sustainable Development, Land Management and Rural Development, Town and Country Planning, International Environmental Policy and Development. Masters courses in Land Policy and Law, Rural Development Planning and Environmental Consulting would also be undertaken.