Ga Chiefs to embark on positive defiance over seized lands

Some chiefs of the Ga State have asked the government and, for that matter, the Lands Commission to release their lands that were claimed years ago for government projects but not used.

The chiefs, in a statement, noted that all efforts to get their ancestral lands back have proved futile and have, thus, appealed to the president to intervene.

A statement signed on their behalf by their spokesperson, Nii Djanie Klu, on Monday, 8 June 2020, said they will embark on a positive defiance exercise to reclaim their property if the authorities do not intervene.

“We have written series of petitions to all stakeholders including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for quicker release of our lands without success.

“We have well-prepared plans for these lands since land is central to our livelihoods, culture and identity for millions of people across the developing world. But there is growing concern that peoples’ connection to their lands are being undermined due to large-scale land deals by some actors, a situation we are stringently against.

“Instead of doing the needful by releasing our lands to us after the project for which they were acquired no longer exists, a senior official of the Lands Commission who was tasked to ensure quicker release of our land to us was seen together with another officer from the same office in Clement Dzato's office located at his filling station registered under Ghana Goil Limited at Aviation Ashalley Botwe on ‘Sala’ day allegedly discussing how our lands will be shared among themselves.

“As law-abiding citizens, we are taking this step to channel our last complaints to the right-thinking members of the public, while calling for quicker intervention of the president to ensure quicker release, at least, within a week or two because we have been on this matter for far too long and can no longer wait”.

“If we fail to get our lands back within the period state, we will have no alternative to embark on positive defiance of taking over our property.”