The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has appealed to the youth of La to exercise patience as the government works towards resolving the long-standing issue of the La land dispute.
This comes after a disagreement between police and organisers of the La Coalition demonstration over the protest route, which began on July 30 to highlight the alleged unethical seizure of lands by political entities in the Greater Accra Region.
Speaking at a press briefing on August 14, 2024, Mr Jinapor clarified the concerns and assured the residents that plans are underway to address the situation.
He explained that a five-member committee was constituted to address the issue, and a lease has been granted to the La Traditional Council.
However, the Ministry of Defence is engaging with the La Traditional Council and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to ensure a smooth arrangement.
Mr Jinapor emphasised that the government is committed to returning the lands to the La Traditional Council and has taken steps to grant them a lease.
He acknowledged the concerns of the La Youth and assured that the Minister for Defence and Chief of Defence Staff are working towards an amicable resolution.
He said, “There were a lot of agitations at the time from the La youth and the La traditional council. I constituted a five-member committee with representations from the Ghana Armed Forces, the La traditional council, the Ministry and the lands commission that did very thorough work, they came up with their report.
“We’ve since granted a lease to the La Traditional Council, but the Ministry of Defence is engaging the La Traditional Council and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for an arrangement which would ensure that the taking or possession of the land does not result in unnecessary controversy.”
“So, it’s still a work in progress, a lot of work has been done. I’ve been to the La traditional council multiple times to brief them, a lease is being granted in their favour, that’s been concluded. The government is fully committed to returning these lands to them which is why we went as far as granting them the lease but the Ghana Armed Forces have concerns.
“They need to deal with and rightly so because it’s a very important sensitive institution and the Minister for Defence and Chief of Defence staff is taking important steps to resolve the outstanding issues for us to an amicable resolution on this matter.”
“I’ll use this medium to crave the indulgence of the La youth to continue to exercise restraint and patience while we go through this complex process to find a resolution to this longstanding matter,” he stated.
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