The Osu Traditional Council has debunked claim that the Owoo family owns portions of the Achimota Forest.
Contesting the release of some 136 acres of the peripherals of the forest reserve to the Owoo family, the Osu Traditional Council, the spokesperson for the Osu stool, Nii O.T Ankrah, said the forest in question belongs to the Osu Stool.
He told Kofi Adomah on Angel TV that ” we have a problem with where the government is sending the land to.”
He explained that the Owoo family is from Ga Mashie therefore they cannot claim ownership of the land, adding that the Osu Stool gave the land to the state to build the Achimota School so if there is a peripheral that cannot be considered as a forest reserve, it must be handed to the Osu Stool – the rightful owners.
The Osu Stool’s concerns come after the government through an Executive Instrument, E.I. 144, declassified portions of the Achimota Forest as a reserve.
The announcement sparked anxiety with speculation about possible developments on the land but the government explained that the E.I. pertained to 361 acres of peripherals of the Achimota forest that the government is returning to its custodial owners.
There is also an accompanying E.I., 154, which states emphatically, the area of the forest returned shall remain a Forest Reserve.
Source: Myxyzonline.com|Ghana
