Osu Traditional Council Breaks Silence Over Rightful Owners Of Achimota Forest Land ...Says Owoo Family Not Allodial Owners Of The Land.
The Osu Royal Stool of the Greater Accra Region is the real custodian of the Achimota forest range reserve lands and the Owoo family is not rightful owners of Achimota forest," the spokesperson of the Osu Stool, Nii O.T. Ankrah has set the record straight.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater 
The Osu Royal Stool of the Greater Accra Region is the real custodian of the Achimota forest range reserve lands and the Owoo family is not rightful owners of Achimota forest," the spokesperson of the Osu Stool, Nii O.T. Ankrah has set the record straight.
Declaring this on an Accra-based Angel FM’s Morning Show, Mr. Ankrah has indeed backed his claim with the legal suits pursued by a former Osu Chief, Nii Ako Nortei IV.
Proving that the Osu Stool is the real custodian of the Achimota lands, Nii O.T. Ankrah noted that, “…because as of July 28, 2011, Suit SOL/21/2020 Nii Akonortei vs Lands Commission on the release of 172 acres of Achimota Forest then in 2014 Nii Akornotei vs Lands Commission on the release of the same 172.68 acres which was granted. There were appeals which were all dismissed."
Mr. Ankrah on behalf of the Osu Traditional Council has been contesting the release of 136 acres of peripheral portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve to the Owoo family, saying that their claim to be the allodial owners of the land is completely lies and stealing.
He pointed out that the forest “perfectly” belongs to the Osu Stool but it was handed over to the State for the construction of Achimota Senior High School and subsequently, its extension.
He explained, “the Owoo family is from Ga Mashie; they cannot come from Ga Mashie and come into the bosom of someone’s land and say that land belongs to them."
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government have largely been accused on social media that they intend to sell portions of the Achimota forest reserve.
A document from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, referring to an Executive Instrument, stated that the Achimota Forest Reserve is to no longer be regarded as a forest reserve.
“An Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144 gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor indicates that effective May 1, 2022, the land on which the Forest is located shall cease to be a forest reserve.
“The President’s action was by Section 19 of the Forest Act, 1927 (CAP. 157) which gives him the authority to declare that particular land is no longer required as a forest reserve,” portions of the purported E.I. read.
But, Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister, Lands, and Natural Resources, dismissing these accusations at a press conference on Tuesday, said the Executive Instrument, E.I. 144, pertained to 361 acres of peripherals of the Achimota forest that the government is returning to its custodial owners, identified as the Owoo family because the land was not being used for its intended purpose, which included the extension of the Achimota School.
Responding to this, Nii O.T. Ankrah said, “the land first belongs to the State – so Ga Mashie – La – Osu – [then] the state. Now when it moves to the State, it comes to the family; that’s the Weka, the Wei then when it comes to the family, it comes to the individual…so if it is not for Gbese then how did it come to Owoo Family?
“We have a problem with where the government is sending the land to…So, the Gbese family would be surprised to learn that it [the land] has been given to the Owoo Family…
“Our concern is that if the government says they are releasing the land then it should go to the rightful owners, the 136 acres should go to the rightful owners,” he emphasized.
