… directs illegal occupants to vacate immediately
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, MoFA has advised individuals and institutions that have encroached on its lands to vacate such lands which are meant for agricultural research and demonstration purposes.
MoFA has therefore begun a nationwide land reclamation exercise as part of activities to retrieve all lands belonging to the ministry throughout the country.
The exercise which began last week in Accra, according to the MoFA, will be executed in all regions throughout the year.
Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, told Goldstreet Business in Accra that, some individuals and several institutions have unlawfully encroached on lands which have been demarcated for research and educational purposes.
“The exercise is aimed at putting the encroached lands to the original purposes for which they were acquired some fifty years ago. These include the establishment of demonstration farms for national service persons as well as research facilities for the development of the agricultural sector,” he explained.
Apart from research, he noted that the reclamation process also forms part of activities to meet the accommodation needs of staff of MoFA and the general public through the construction of designated affordable housing units.
“Our findings indicated that MoFA’s lands at Pokuase, Amasaman, Kasoa, Tamale, Takoradi, and other towns across all 10 regions have been illegally acquired and we are ready to act immediately to retrieve them,” he averred.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto however explained that, a taskforce in charge of the operations have been advised to consider individuals living in heavily encroached areas by regularizing their stay, while structures of those in light encroached areas will be demolished.
He therefore asked individuals who have been purchasing government lands, especially those belonging to MoFA to desist from the act or later face the full rigorous of the law.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe
