By Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
The Overlord of the Wala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo, has expressed grave concern about the clandestine sale of government-acquired lands to individuals in the Wa Municipality. He expressed the sentiment when President Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on him at his palace in Wa.
The Jinpenhi Naa, Naa Ibrahim Kadri, who spoke on behalf of the Wa Naa, told the President that individuals practically choose which parcels of government-acquired lands they want to own, and the managers of our state lands promptly rezone them for them.
GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo in this write-ups says that the Wala Traditional Council has therefore called for the sales to be stopped immediately and the entire process audited.
This was how Naa Ibrahim Kadri tabled the issue relating to the mad rush of buying government lands in Wa: “Your Excellency, of late the crave to rezone unused Government acquired lands and sell them clandestinely to individuals has hit the Wa Municipality. Individuals practically choose which parcels of Government acquired land they want to own, and the managers of our state lands promptly rezone them for them to buy. Your Excellency, if this mad rush to sell off all unused Government acquired lands is not checked, very soon, when we get strategic Government projects that must necessarily be located within the town, we will not find the place to build them. We call for the process to be stopped immediately and the entire process audited.”
There were also a mixed bag of appeals to the President including roads and school buses. Naa Kadri noted, “The Wa-Bambai road is now a nightmare to travel on that road. A journey to Kumasi that ordinarily should take five hours now takes twelve hours, granted that your vehicle does not break down on the way. Your Excellency, can you do something on it for us as your personal parting gift?”
He indicated that the Wa-Sing-Loggu road is one of the repackaged requests which is still outstanding.
Naa Kadri added that the Wa Islamic Senior High School and the Wa Nursing Training School are both in dire need of buses for the students.
“In the case of the Nursing Training School, because the Institute has no hostels, most of the students stay in Kperisi and commute to lectures and back to the town daily. When they are unable to get commercial vehicles to convey them to the institute, they walk the two-kilometre journey. This is especially dangerous for the female students, as the road is not a busy one, and sometimes they get attacked by miscreants,” he observed.
Naa Kadri talked about the Palace School Project, which had also been repackaged for the President on several occasions and had been assigned to the Northern Development Authority to execute, but nothing has been done about it, noting that it has become a school of choice. The palace touched on the recent swapping of the Upper West and Upper East Regional Ministers and assured the President that Hon. Stephen Mahamadu Dawuni Yakubu, who is now in the Upper West, will get the same cooperation they offered Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih.
President Akufo-Addo responded to the government land issues and the requests put before him. He stated, “I am extremely concerned about the statements you have made about government lands, and here is one of the advantages you are going to get by having a Minister who doesn’t have immediate relatives here in Wa. So he is sitting beside me, and he has heard you, and I am going to insist he does something about it immediately. And I am sure that by the time I come back again, you will see some of that.”
“I am going to do something about the Wa-Bamboi road. It is my personal parting gift, and very soon the Minister for Roads and Highways, the new Minister will be here to speak to you about it. I am not sure we can do both, Wa-Sing-Loggu road as well as the road from Bamboi at the same time, but we will be making efforts.”
“I have taken note of the request for the buses for the Senior School as well the Nurses Training College and I am particularly concerned about the bus for the Nurses Training School, and I am taking that as my personal project to make sure that the Nurses Training School gets a bus. I am going to do something about the Wa-Bamboi road. This is my personal parting gift, and very soon the Minister for Roads and Highways, the new Minister will be here to speak to you about it.I am not sure we can do both, Wa-Sing-Loggu road as well as the road from Bamboi at the same time. But we will be making efforts.”
“And I am going to press the Northern Development Authority to do something about the Palace School Project,” he assured.
President Akufo-Addo reminded the gathering that Ghana is a pacesetter in democratic governance across Africa and assured that that reputation will be maintained in respect of this year’s [2024] elections.
