An Ashanti royal, Nana Kwadwo Amoah Ampem Okogyeabuor has questioned the relevance of the Ashanti Administration Ordinance enacted on January 1, 1902, as the first law in respect of Ashanti for the purpose of management of Stool lands.
The said Ordinance also known as the Road Appropriation (Ashanti Administration) Ordinance, 1902 according to Nana Okogyeabuor is being applied by the Lands Commission in the management of lands which are ceded to the state as government lands.
The Lands Commission claims the Ordinance was enacted to appropriate 100 yards of Stool lands from the centre line on each side of existing roads and that these stool lands subsequently become state or government lands.
But Nana Ampem Okogyeabuor, who has launched a crusade against corrupt practices among chiefs in the Ashanti region, has dared the Lands Commission to make copies of the said Road Appropriation Ordinance available for public scrutiny.
He said acting in accordance with the law requires that the law should be readily available in its updated form for study by the public. The petitioner said the Lands Commission would have to convince the land owner that the Road Appropriation (Ashanti Administration) Ordinance is real and relevant now or be ready to consider a revision of the its position on the implementation of the Ordinance.
Nana Okogyeabuor quoted Sir Arnold Hodson, Governor of the Gold Coast who said at a grand durbar in Kumasi on the restoration of the Ashanti Confederacy on January 31, 1935 that “the restoration was no new creation but a return to former institutions and that the domestic affairs and property rights of properly constituted divisions will not be interfered with unless the native authorities concerned invite assistance.”
The anti-corruption campaigner appealed to the Lands Commission to be prepared to pay accumulated royalties in respect of the position of Sir Hodson when he said that “henceforth, the ancient royalties of the Ashanti division are to be officially recognized and sanctioned”.
Nana Ampem Okogyeabuor said just as the Part One Lands had been returned to the Golden Stool, the Lands Commission must consider the Road Appropriation (Ashanti Administration) Ordinance which is not as relevant today as when it was enacted by the colonial masters.
The Golden Stool royal said he would not hesitate to take legal action to demand payment of accumulated royalties due the Golden Stool since 1935 following the restoration of the Ashanti Confederacy. Nana Okogyeabuor’s stance is premised on a similar claim in July 2006 when the “Golden Stool” as the lawful owner took over all lands at Adum in Kumasi, commonly referred to as Kumasi Part One (1) lands, hitherto vested in the government on the orders of Kumasi High Court.
The Kumasi lands were divested to the Golden Stool in fulfillment of the avowed stance of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to retrieve all such lands. The presiding judge, Mr. Justice E. H. Ampadu said by operation of the law, the Golden Stool, per its occupants, is entitled to accrued rents exacted overtime on the said parcel of lands and ordered the Lands Commission to render accounts of all rents, including outstanding rents collected over the years, in respect of the said land to the owner.
The Lands Commission was also to furnish the Golden Stool with data on the property portfolio, inclusive of all encumbrances on all the properties within the Part 1 Land area in Kumasi. Nana Ampem Okogyeabuor claimed that the Kumasi Lands Ordinance of 1943 (CAP145) re-vested all lands hitherto vested in the British Crown to the Asantehene to replace the provisions of the Ashanti Administration Ordinance of 1902 (CAP 110), which vested the said lands in the Crown and therefore not relevant today.
The concerned royal quoted Lord Denning, the most celebrated English judge who once said: “You cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stand,” and reminded the Lands Commission to explain the relevance of the law, which does not in principle exist or consider a revision without further delay or face the legal consequences.
<<Print>>