The Speaker of Parliament, Hon Peter Ala Adjetey, has asked the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Lands and Forestry and Education to
investigate issues of encroachment on school lands and property and
report to the House after members of the House raised concerns about
encroachment on schools lands and property. They maintained that if not
curtailed, it could degenerate into persistent confrontations and chaos
between the educational institutions land encroaches. It could also
hinder ongoing expansion projects in various schools.
Mrs Cecilia Gyan Amoah (NPP, Asutifi South) the originator of the
statement on the encroachment of school lands and property, said most of
the illegal occupants of the school lands and property claimed to have
title deeds from the Lands Commission covering lands earmarked for
schools. She said investigations had revealed that some of the disputed
school lands were acquired by some district, municipal and metropolitan
assemblies as well as government as far back as the first republic from
traditional authorities and settlers for school purposes. “Whereas due
compensation were paid in many cases, the truth is the rightful owners
or custodians,” she added.
Mrs Amoah said it was awful to note that not only did some private
individuals and some traditional authorities engage in the sale of
school lands and properties to developers, but also some imposters
believed to be working with the Lands Department connived with ignorant
citizens to distort school land boundaries. She appealed to the
Ministry of Education and all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to
take the necessary steps to have all schools lands property registered
so as to enable the governing boards of the affected schools to fence
their lands to prevent further encroachment.
Dr Benjamin Kumbuor (NDC, Lawra-Nandom) asked that land administration
be properly harmonized to avoid duplication in dealing with land sale.
He also noted that school administrations pay attention to their surplus
school lands for agricultural activities and thus benefited from
harvests to enrich themselves.
E.T. Mensah (NDC, Ningo Prampram) said governments should ensure that
they paid compensations for lands acquired for schools, and ensure that
the district assemblies were resourced to enable them to follow up on
lands that have been encroached upon and demolish any structures.
M.A. Seidu (NDC, Wa Central) said there was a problem with the mode of
acquisition and demarcation of lands and called for the streamlining of
agencies to deal with lands.
A.K. Korankye (NPP, Asante Akim South) said there were lapses in the
country’s land policy and therefore the need to address them, as they
have given rise to a number of land cases pending in various courts in
the country. He stressed the need for a strong and comprehensive land
policy. George Amoo (NPP, Ayawaso West Wuogon) called on state agencies
that deal with land to ensure that the right procedures were adhered to
with regard to land acquisition.
Source: GhanaWeb
