Minister Denies La Youth Land Claims

Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has denied allegations that he is aiding the military to illegally annex stool lands belonging to the people of La.

The Defence Minister, insisted that the government has not taken any land from the La stool as alleged by the Coalition of La Youth Association.

Speaking in an interview with Class FM, he said “I visited the La Mantse about three weeks ago, I went with the military high command and we had a small discussion there, and, they said if anybody has any concerns, they should refer it to their traditional council, and that is what the traditional council told me when we visited them – that anybody who talks about land matter, they should refer it to them. So, it will be good if they can refer whatever concerns they have to the traditional council.

“No Legislative Instrument has been sent to parliament by the government to acquire any land, so, I don’t know what they are talking about.

He said: “If they want some land, they should say we want some land. They said government should return some land to them even though government has paid compensation, they say we should return some land to them.

The Coalition of La Youth Association (COLA), at a press conference on Monday asked President Akufo-Addo to fulfill his promise to assist the people of La to reclaim their lands which have been taken illegally by the military.

According to them, should the Presidency fail to address their concerns immediately, it will face their wrath before the Homowo celebration begins.

“The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the one-year anniversary that was organized by the military in honour of the late Major Maxell Mahama with a purported statue being erected on our land that does not belong to you in the first place. We want our land back now not tomorrow,” he said.

“We are also asking for full compensation and equity agreement between the people of La for all lands acquired by the government, we are also asking for total withdrawal of government interest in our beaches especially La Bamba Beach,” he said.

The President of the association finally stated that the press conference is the last notice they are given out and if no favourable response is received from the presidency they will have no other choice than to take things into their own hands.

In 2016, some aggrieved youth of the La Traditional Area accused the John Mahama government of neglecting Ga-Dangme people and allowing the Ghana Armed forces to illegally acquire their lands.

According to the group, “with the connivance of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Lands Commission, Ga-Dangme lands have been plundered in an unprecedented manner.