The Bono regional minister, Hon Justina Owusu Banahene has received the report from the committee tasked to establish the true land title and ownership of the disputed Ridge Experimental cluster of school lands in Sunyani, with the committee establishing that there was no encroachment.

The committee chaired by the Principal State attorney at the office of the Attorney General in Sunyani among other things were to;

1. Determine whether there had been re-zoning and release of the portions of land to private developers by the regional lands commission secretariat and if so, was it appropriate and necessary in relation to the land use and spatial planning of the Sunyani Municipality.
2. Establish the extent to which the re-zoning has affected the school land.

iii. Determine whether the change of use for commercial activities of other uses would have negative impacts on the academic progress and future development of the schools.

1. Any relevant information that would help avoid any such future occurrences.
2. Make appropriate recommendations to forestall any emergence of such disputes on the public lands.

She said, she received a petition on March 10, 2022 from old students and the school authorities that their lands were being encroached by a private developer.

The minister expressed appreciation to the committee for the good work done and promised to implement the findings of the report.

Hon Justina Banahene said, “the school management committee, the PTA, Head teachers, the Past/Old students association and school children of Ridge Cluster of schools presented a petition to my office after a peaceful demonstration on March 10, 2022 that parts of their lands were encroached and sold out to a private individual.”

“In response to addressing the concerns, I constituted a committee named “Independent Committee” and tasked them to investigate the matter in order to address the concerns of the petitioners”, Madam Banahene indicated.

She admonished all state institutions that have been given lands by the traditional authorities to endeavor to register them with the lands commission to avoid any future litigation.

Secretary of the committee, Mr. Alexander Bae Yeboah said, the committee found out that no re-zoning have taken place on the disputed school lands.

The committee among other recommendations, “recommends that management of all public entity being schools, hospitals, District assembly etc, should take necessary steps to properly document to ensure the ownership of such lands they occupy. This will enhance legal document and possible win of cases should there be any encroachment. Doing this will protect and enhance the probability of judgement in favour of the institution in the event of every legal action.”

Source: Sompaonline.com/Akua Nyarko