As part of efforts to curb incessant litigation and multiple sales of its lands, the Nii Armaah Kwafio Family, which has a vast tract of land in the Ga South Municipality, has established a Customary Land Secretariat for the management of its lands.
The establishment of the Customary Land Secretariat by the family is in line with the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), which enjoins stools, skins and families to establish customary land secretariats for the prudent management of their lands.
The Nii Armaah Kwafio Family owns more than 8,095 acres of land in about 14 communities in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
The communities are Omanpehia, Otaten, Ashamoa, Besiase, Kwaku Panfo, Akutuase, Abuasa, Amasa Kwame, Fawotiri Kosie, Honi Adaroma, Tenbibian, Akotiaku Gonoman, Okotobu and Aboagye.
Customary Land Secretariat
Establishment of the Customary Land Secretariat is one of the major reforms introduced by the new Land Act to sanitise and properly account for the sale of stool, clan or family lands.
Under Section 14 of Act 1036, a stool, skin or family that owns land shall establish a Customary Land Secretariat for the management of its land.
The law stipulates that at the end of every three months, the Customary Land Secretariat must submit to the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands records of each recorded transaction.
The functions of a Customary Land Secretariat pursuant to Section 15 of Act 1036 include recording interests and rights in the land, maintaining records of transactions in land, facilitating the settlement of land disputes through alternative dispute resolution, prepare periodic accounts of all revenues received at the secretariat.
Due diligence
Speaking at the launch of the Customary Land Secretariat located at GICEL Estate at SCC in the Ga South Municipality, the Chief of Armaahman and a Principal Elder of the Nii Armaah Kwafio Family, Nii Armaah Kwafio II, urged prospective land buyers to do extensive due diligence before going ahead with the transaction.
“It is important to verify land ownership through official search, as well as other due diligence checks, before buying land. Failure to buy from the rightful owners often results in never ending litigations,” he said.
He bemoaned the lawlessness and disregard for due process in land transactions, a situation which he said was negatively affecting the development of the country.
According to him, many unscrupulous individuals and entities had encroached on the Nii Armaah Kwafio Family lands, creating fear and disturbing the public peace in such areas.
Such a situation, he said, was unacceptable, especially as the Nii Armaah Kwafio Family had been the lawful owner of the lands since time immemorial, a fact confirmed by a plethora of court judgments.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh