A regional stakeholders' meeting has recommended the establishment of a Ministerial Commission to ensure the proper delineation of the boundaries of the five stool lands from those vested in the President.
The meeting, held in Sunyani, was organized by the Ghana Police Service with participants from the Attorney General's Department, Judicial Service, Town and Country Planning, Lands Commission, Ghana Bar Association and Traditional authorities.
It was held to avert the possible outbreak of violence because of some serious land disputes in some parts of Sunyani.
A copy of the report on the meeting, signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Seth Charles Oteng, and addressed to the Regional Minister, was made available to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani.
The commission, the meeting noted, could among other things, also resolve disputes arising out of any wrongful alienation of lands falling
outside the vested lands by the Lands Commission.
Stools lands vested in the Government in the Sunyani Municipality, include Sunyani, Dormaa, Odumasi Number One, Awuah Dumasi and Fiapre.
They are managed by the Lands Commission in the Sunyani Municipality.
The meeting noted that one of the causes of multiple sale of land by the Lands Commission and the various stools with their attendant problems
was that the Commission did not know the exact physical boundaries of the land belonging to the various chiefs and the government.
"Among the stools themselves, there seem to be uncertainty as to the exact boundaries on the lands from each other," the stakeholders added.
Mr G.A Mireku, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Lands Commission, stated that in 2008, the Dormaa Traditional Council set up the Dormaa Stool Land Task Force and started selling plots to individuals who had earlier acquired them through the Commission, claiming that those plots did not fall within the vested lands.
"The task force prepared their own plans and schemes and allocated the lands to people without recourse to appropriate State Agencies, including
the Commission," he stressed.
Mr. Mireku said: "the Commission does not know the exact boundaries of the area covered by the Executive Instrument (E.I) 46, 1961 and that the various stools also do not know the actual boundaries of their lands."
He called for a comprehensive demarcation of the lands between the five stools and advised the Dormaa Traditional Council to resort to the courts for redress if they had a case in order not to create tension and violence in the Municipality.
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, Omanhene of Dormaa, rebutted the claim that some lands in Sunyani belonging to the Dormaa Stool were vested in the President.
He recounted the E.I 46 schedule "C" and pointed out that all stool lands within the area of jurisdiction of the Sunyani Urban Council, which were vested in the Government, did not include New Dormaa and other areas in the Municipality.
Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu stated that the Sunyani Urban Council, included Fiapre, Kurensua, Atebuase, Tadieso, and Donkorkrom, among others, adding, "the E.I never talks about a municipality".
The Omanhene argued, for instance, that the Sunyani Municipality currently includes some communities under his jurisdiction such as Abesim, which hitherto were not part of the Sunyani Urban Council.
Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri II, Omanhene of Sunyani, commended the organizers for the meeting and called on the government to take immediate
action and measures to ameliorate the problem.
Earlier in a welcoming address, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Isaac Alex Quainoo, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, expressed regret about the clashes and disputes in the Municipality emanating from multiple sale of land, forgery of land documents, trespassing on land and others.
These developments, he said, had resulted in disorder, loss of lives and property to individuals and financial loss to the nation because the maintenance of security is expensive.
Chief Superintendent Edward Tabiri, Brong-Ahafo Regional Crime Officer, reiterated the importance to take immediate action to find a lasting solution to the land disputes in order to avert future clashes.
He recounted similar clashes that occurred in Accra that claimed many lives, including that of police officers, and entreated the stakeholders to offer dispassionate contributions.