The Court of Appeal in Accra has issued an order to the Central Regional Lands Commission, requiring them to remove the name of 21 Century Company from their records.
This directive aims to bring an end to a 13-year-long land litigation case concerning the Gomoa Fetteh Land.
The legal dispute originated in September 2005 when the Chiefs of Gomoa Fetteh applied to the High Court in Cape Coast, leading to a mandamus order that compelled the Lands Commission to register the land documents of 21st Century Company and its affiliated companies, as well as the documents provided to their customers.
Due to the Lands Commission’s failure to register the mentioned lands, the chiefs filed a motion alleging contempt of court. Subsequently, the involved parties submitted terms of settlement to the court.
In response, the Lands Commission published a notice in the Daily Graphic on June 18, 2020, announcing their intention to delete the land registrations of affected individuals. However, the chiefs argue that the 21-day notice period elapsed without any action from the commission to remove their names, prompting them to escalate the matter back to court.
During a court hearing presided over by Justice Poku-Acheampng, Justice Kyei Baffour, and Justice Archer, the Lands Commission was ordered to delete the land registration records pertaining to portions of land in Gomoa Fetteh.
In a press conference, Nana Abor Atta II, the Twafohene of the Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council and Chief of Gomoa Fetteh, disclosed that in the early 1990s, Kofi Asmah, the manager of 21st Century, acquired 3,000 acres of land from the chiefs of Gomoa Fetteh for estate development.
However, an error occurred, and the Lands Commission mistakenly registered over 12,000 acres of land for the company without the chiefs’ knowledge.
The chiefs of Gomoa Fetteh took the matter to court and have legally fought for the right thing to be done for the past 13 years.
Nana Abor Atta II appealed to the Lands Commission to do their investigations well before registering Lands for individuals and estate companies to reduce land litigations in the area.
Meanwhile Omankrado of Gomoa Fetteh, Nana Kwesi Quansah, also appealed to the IGP to call some personnel of the Ghana Police Service to order when it comes to their style of arrests.
Nana Kwesi Quansah says some police officers are still used to the ‘rambo style of arrest’ during their operations.