About fourteen Civil Society Organizations CSOs, have petitioned the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, CHRAJ, to look into the de-gazetting and purported sale of portions of the Achimota forest.
The CSOs are again requesting CHRAJ to expose any situation of conflict of interest and reveal any procedural flaw in the alleged allocation of the said lands and the Sakumono Ramsar site.
The CSOs include the Ghana Wildlife Society, Civic Response, Arocha Ghana, Nature and Development Foundation, EcoCare Ghana, Kasa Initiative Ghana, as well as Advocates for Biodiversity Conservation among others.
News report on degazetting portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve as stipulated in Executive Instrument 144, of 2022, has generated mixed reactions about the propriety of the action amidst the country’s state commitments to environmental protection.
Although the government says the de-gazetted portion, about 361 acres, is being ceded to the custodial owners of the forest land, the Owoo family and environmentalists insist that the government ought to protect and preserve it due to its importance.
Meanwhile, acres of land in the Achimota Forest and portions of the Sakumono Ramsar site purported to have been owned by former Forestry Commission head, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, and willed to some relatives have triggered public uproar with many speaking against the development.
The Lands Commission has already said that it has no records to show that Mr Afriyie also known as Sir John, owns lands in the Achimota Forest, but the Ministry for Lands and Natural Resources has said while the purported will is a subject of litigation in court, it is revoking any authority of the said Achimota forest and Sakumono Ramsar site lands to any private individual.
The CSOs believe CHRAJ is in a better position to investigate the entire issue and make definite pronouncements on the propriety of different actions surrounding the controversial matter.
