LANDS COMMISSION SWERVED OVER PAYMENTS...SOLE-COMMISSIONER TOLD

Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday December 20, 2012.

It has emerged that the Lands Commission does not know about compensations paid to claimants as a result of compulsory acquisition of lands by the state even though it is the commission that makes the assessments and recommend payments.

The Commission of Enquiry that is investigating the payment of Judgement Debts heard how some government agencies paid huge sums of monies to claimants without notifying the Lands Commission after the it (commission) had made the recommendations.

The ‘Commission of Enquiry into the payment of Judgement Debt and Akin’ under C.I. 79 to investigate the frivolous and dubious payments of huge monies to undeserving individuals and companies, was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama after public uproar over the payments in what has now come to be termed as Judgement Debts (JD).

Notable among them were payments made to CP (94 million Euros) and the never-ending case of GH¢51.2 million parted to the self-styled National Democratic Candidate (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, both of which many believed were dubious and frivolous.

Appearing before Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau at the commission’s last sitting for the year, Acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Dr. Wilfred Kwabena Anim-Odame told the commission that “when we conduct all the investigations, do our assessments and finally make recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the relevant agencies/departments, they do not give us notice that the claimants have been paid.”

He mentioned the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Roads and Highways Authority, Bulk Oil Storage Facility (BOST), Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Ghana National Gas, Ghana Oil Palm Development Company among others as some of the notable agencies that paid compensation for people whose lands were taken by the state for development but failed to notify them about the mode of payments.

“We have severally sent reminders to these agencies asking them for receipts of payments of compensations but to no avail,” the Acting Executive Secretary said to the chagrin of the Sole-Commissioner.

He said that even though compensations are paid strictly for lands and landed properties that are covered under an Executive Instrument (EI), there had been exceptions in the payments.

“For some project funded activities we have been compelled to pay compensations even though they are not covered under the EI and the Tetteh Quarshie – Mallam Highway funded by MiDA is a typical example.”

Dr. Anim-Odame told the commission that the Lands Commission assessed over 3,000 compensation claims for payment to be made by MiDA.

He said that where a party traditional leader or stools donated lands for national development, it was not classified as compulsory acquisition, adding “we take steps to assist the MMDAs to transfer the titles.”

He said the commission does not have a list of lands donated to the government for development purposes. He however, added that the commission got funding from the World Bank to take inventory of all such properties but it was not completed because the funds could not cover the whole country.

Dr. Anim-Odame told the commission that anytime the MMDAs showed interest in parcels of land, it was up to the Lands Commission to investigate and make recommendations to the government for compulsory acquisition.

He tendered in evidence initial list of compensations paid by the government to claimants since 1993 and added to the list were ledgers and pay vouchers for the payments.

The Acting Executive Secretary however, told the commission that it had been difficult for them to track all the payments due to the fact that documents are not kept properly at his outfit.

“We are not digital, we operate manually and it is a problem for us. We are working hard to get more documents covering the payment of compensation.”

He also explained the functions of the executive secretary vis a vis the Chairman of the commission and the framework bordering on land regulation in the country.