OUR LANDS, OUR LIVES, OUR LIVELIHOODS: Return Our Lands to improve our Lives & livelihoods

I have been bereaved thus not commented much on the groundbreaking announcement by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama on the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry into Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

This has been my lifetime quest and I was naturally very excited to hear the news, which was sadly followed shortly by my bereavement.

I have since been informed severally of the unfortunate statements made by Hon. Sylvester Tetteh on Good Morning Ghana among others.

The circumstances of the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme promised by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama is different in many regards and offers a unique opportunity to stop permanently the phenomenon of Land Looting which is key to the fight against Corruption, Galamsey and Money Laundering.

The Commission of Enquiry into the Ayawaso West Wuogon Bye-Election Violence is different because Government of the day decided not to act on the recommendations.

However, the promise of President John Dramani Mahama on the other hand, commits him to act on the findings of the Commission of Enquiry into Looted Stolen State Lands especially the fraudulent allocation and clandestine annexation of GaDangme Lands, which is expected to be captured in his 2024 Manifesto an SOCIAL CONTRACT to Ghanaians, which he will use to seek the madate of Ghanaians to be elected President of Ghana.

The net effect of the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands will be the retrieval by the State from the Looters and the return of such Stolen Lands to the Original Land Owners.

The Commission’s work is expected to lead to the prosecution of persons including Chiefs as well as Government officials, Military Personnel and other State actors found complicit in the criminal activity of  expropriation of the Lands in accordance with ACT 1036 to serve as deterrent to others.

The illegal agreement between the Lands Ministry and the notorious Landguard Clemence Gyato and Anyok Holdings Vigilante group to reclaim encroached State Lands and be paid with portions of the State Lands which is shared with some government officials as confirmed by the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission; will definitely feature prominently at the public hearings to be held by the proposed Commission of Enquiry.

The public allegations by the current Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor that he knows that officials of the Lands Commission carry home and falsify the ownership of Land and alter title will no longer be left in the realms of rumour or loose-talk.

The current Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor’s further claim that the people who are revered in our society drive around on weekends looking for State Lands and Bungalows with little or no activity then come to his office to pressure him to allocate these prime lands to them will definitely be of interest to the Commission of Enquiry.

The refusal of the Lands Minister and President Akufo-Addo to make public the Status of all State Acquired Lands despite two separate official requests by Prince-Derek Adjei and OccupyGhana will be highlighted during the sittings of the Commission of Enquiry into Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

The illegal acquisition of the Cathedral Project Land will be scrutinised;

How the prime State Land was granted to private organisation [called the Nationa Cathedral of Ghana registered in the United States of America among others] for a Corruption-plagued private venture shrouded deep dubious controversy.

How the Cathedral Project officials started demolition and construction work despite a court injunction.

It will be recalled that Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng and Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah of the Cathedral Project Secretariat stated on national television [Joy News  TV] and the Joy FM Super Morning Show that then Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo granted the Cathedral Project JUDICIAL APPROVAL to start construction work despite the existence of an injunction filed by Lawyer Bright Akwetey challenging the President’s donation of the Prime Osu Mantse Layout Land for a private project occasioned by his personal pledge to his god.

The long list of Land Looters complete with particulars of the fraudulent allocation of State Lands and Bungalows attached to the Article 146 Petition for the removal of Justice Sophia Akuffo which President Akufo Addo with the full knowledge of the Council of State refused to act on for two (2) years in breach of the Constitution of Ghana; will definitely come under the purview of the Commission of Enquiry.

The failure of the Special Prosecutor and the Attorney-General to take up the Land Looting nor initiate investigation particularly into the long list of High profile personalities and organisations who are holding on to the prime Lands fraudulently allocated to them even though they have the evidence will be of interest to the Commission of Enquiry.

The mandate of the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Bungalows as well as the expropriation of GaDangme Lands and Beaches will be drawn to overhaul the Lands administration in the country and fish out all the miscreants so Ghana, GaDangmes and Ghanaians will be best served whiles the Lands are preserved for posterity.

Note that Land is a primary factor of production.

Note also that Land especially prime lands have become the primary hiding place for the proceeds of Galamsey and Corruption.

State Land allocation particularly in prime areas were used to create instant millionaires by State Actors and government officials.

Land transactions have become the haven for money launderers as it keeps the proceeds outside the banking system, with little or no paper trail while offering instant cover for the unexplained wealth laundered through the ever-appreciating value of the land.

As a royal of La, a GaDangme and a Citizen of Ghana, I fully support the establishment of the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

I do not benefit if the Land Looters are NDC, NPP or CPP neither do I gain if the Thieves are Chiefs, Chinese, Gas or Guans.

I urge Hon. Sylvester Tetteh and more especially the likes of Hon. Kennedy Agyepong who has publicly accused the current NPP National Chairman Mr. Stephen Ntim of leading a State Land Stealing Syndicate at the Lands Commission during his tenure as the National Chairman of the Lands Commission; to support the establishment of the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

I believe that Hon. Sylvester Tetteh who is currently the campaign manager for one of the Flagbearer hopefuls of the NPP [Alan Kyerematen or Dr. Bawumia] noting that “LOOTED STATE LANDS AND EXPROPRIATION OF GADANGME LAND” is now a major plank of the 2024 Election Campaign, must seriously look into this well-grounded Commission proposal and immediately start acting since they already are governing and do not need to make any new future promises whiles they fail to deliver in the present.

It is trite knowledge that the review of Article 20 of the Ghana Constitution and annulment of the Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III vs Attorney General judgement will be key to eradicating the Looting of State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

Ghanaians are resolved to be Citizens and not Spectators.

Ghanaians must vote for a President who they can trust and hold to his promises.

On the issue of Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands;

I trust H.E. President John Dramani Mahama and urge all Ghanaians especially GaDangmes to vote for him to become President of Ghana to redeem his promise of establishing the Commission of Enquiry into the Looted Stolen State Lands and Expropriation of GaDangme Lands.

GOD BLESS.

Prince-Derek Adjei PDA