The government has stated that the beneficiaries of the will of the late Forestry Commission CEO, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, will not get the Achimota Forest and Ramsar site lands included in the will.
Mr. Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, was a one-time general secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party. Until his death in July 2020, he headed the Forestry Commission as the CEO from 2017.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A Jinapor, has revealed that the late CEO of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, owns no lands at the Achimota Forest and the Sakumono Ramsar Site.
He made this known in a statement released on May 24, 2022.
According to Mr. Jinapor in the statement, preliminary inquiries into the alleged ownership of lands by Sir John in the Achimota Forest and the Sakumono Ramsar Site revealed: “that the alleged Will in question is a subject matter of litigation/contestation in the courts.”
The statement noted that “Further checks at the Lands and the Forestry Commissions, the repositories of the records of the lands in question, show no record of ownership of Lands at, the Achimota Forest or the Sakumono Ramsar Site, by the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie.”
It added that “That said, given the totality of the circumstances of the said allegations, I, as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, have directed the Lands and Forestry Commissions to deem any ownership of lands, both, in the Achimota Forest and the Sakumono Ramsar Site by the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie as void and are to take the appropriate actions accordingly.”
”For the avoidance of doubt, the bequeathing of the aforesaid lands, if established, will not pass any interest/title to the named beneficiaries in the alleged Will.
These lands, the subject matter of the alleged Will, shall remain Public Lands, whether or not it falls within the de-gazetted lands pursuant to E.I 144. The government will act on any improper acquisition of any Public Lands, regardless of how it was procured, whether now or in the past, and the Achimota Forest Lands will not be an exception.”
Story by:Kwaku Stephen
