The Lands Commission has started the process of tracing the lands mentioned in the late Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, better known as Sir John’s final will.
Some members of Sir John’s family are named as beneficiaries of acres of land in the Achimota forest and the Ramsar site in the will now in circulation.
Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, revealed to JoyNews that the current measure intends to formally invalidate any land purchased unlawfully by the late Sir John.
“It is absolutely effective, whatever transactions that were supposed to have taken place, these properties named as part of Sir John’s estate cannot stand.
“And I have written letters to the Lands Commission, so that matter is completely dealt with, those properties will revert to the state,” he emphasised.
He also called for the formation of a Commission of Inquiry into the situation “premature.”
“I think it is early days. There’s been Commission of Inquiries in the past, let us also ask ourselves to what extent have they served their purpose and it will not be my decision to make eventually.”
Meanwhile, Martin Kpebu, a private lawyer, wants the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor to launch extensive inquiries into Sir John’s conduct.
Background
Some Ghanaians have accused government officials of seeking to purchase lands at the Achimota Forest Reserve unlawfully.
President Akufo-Addo signed an Executive Instrument to declassify the Achimota Forest, which sparked outrage.
According to Section 19 of the Forest Act, 1927, the area on which the Forest is located will cease to be a forest reserve on May 1, 2022, according to the Instrument gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor (CAP. 157).
But, even before the dust had cleared, another incredible find had been made in Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie’s will.
Read Also: NAPO reacts to $1.2M World Bank cash controversy
The politician possessed various plots of property in the Forest Reserve, according to the 12-page document, which he has handed on to inheritors forever.
Meanwhile, the Lands Commission’s Executive Secretary, James Dadson, has stated that there is no record of Sir John holding any land in the Achimota Forest Reserve.
“There is nothing in our records concerning that. What you read is what I have read. We don’t have anything recorded here for Sir John as far as our records are concerned,” James Dadson told journalists in Accra on Monday May 23.
SOURCE: myjoyonline
