REGSEC issues 48-hour ultimatum for CSIR land encroachers to move out

Chief calls on government to stop the sale of family land

Over 1,000-acre land at Frafraha, off the Adenta-Dodowa road encroached, Report

The Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to encroachers of some lands belonging to the Animal Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to vacate the premises.

According to Henry Quartey, any person found loitering on the 200-acre land after the deadline will be dealt with in accordance to the law.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, June 20, 2022, the minister said the land which was originally acquired by the government to conduct research into the development and transfer of livestock and poultry technologies to communities, farmer groups private and public organization, has been over the years, sold by some unscrupulous persons. He has therefore cautioned encroachers to move out.

“…The Government of Ghana under Executive Instrument (E.I, 38) established the CSIR-ARI on an over one-thousand-acre land in 1976 at Adentan-Frafraha with a mandate to conduct research into the development and transfer of livestock and poultry technologies to communities, farmer groups, private and public organizations. This was to ensure the long-term food security of the nation. “When the land was acquired by Government, all owners (including the original owners at Berekuso, Akuapim) were compensated. However, over the years, some unscrupulous persons have made it a habit to be selling portions of this land to unsuspecting Ghanaians.

“REGSEC Is hereby giving a 48hr notice from now to all those who are putting up such unauthorized structures within the fenced wall to pack their tools and materials from the land without fail. Any persons found loitering on the fenced 200-acre land after the deadline will be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land, REGSEC with the Adentan Municipal Assembly and the Animal Research Institute (ARI) of the Council for Industrial Research (CSIR) will proceed to remove every structure on the land subsequently, he said.

This caution comes on the back of a call by the Ga Traditional Council who have in recent times, raised concerns about the sale of the Animal Research Institute lands by some land guards and squatters after the government acquired the land for research purposes.

According to him, the government must release the family land to its owners, the Nunmo Nmashie family, if it no longer serves its purpose, rather than allowing squatters and land guards to take over the land.

The chief of the area, Nii Adjitey Obour bour II speaking to GhanaWeb said even though the government did not negotiate with the real owners of the land before acquiring it, the family has not been compensated by the government while the land is also being sold by some land guards.

He, however, called on the government to intervene in the sale of the land by returning it to the owners and also ensuring the family is compensated.

“… Government came to the area and said they wanted to use it for animal research. We don’t know who they dealt with, but later, they said they have paid some compensation to some people. I asked around but nobody said they took compensation. But at the time we were asking, the chief at that time was dead.

“We then realized that the government had some people at Lands Commission who we shared boundaries with. So government dealt with these people even though the land was not for them. We also later discovered that the money given to them as compensation was actually not compensation but something small, they gave to the people they dealt with.

“We have called on many governments but we didn’t get any feedback, we know this government is a listening government so we want to tell them to release our land to us and they should also pay compensation for the many years they have used the lands. We want to clear the squatters because they will spoil the land. We beg the government to help us,” he said in an interview with GhanaWeb.

The CSIR-Animal Research Institute is one of the 13 institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Institute was established as Biological Research Institute in January 1957 as an agency of the Tsetse Control Department of the Gold Coast Administration.

For some time now, there has widespread encroachment on lands of the institute by land guards.

A report indicates that over 1,000-acre of land at Frafraha, off the Adenta-Dodowa road, has been encroached.

Based on this, the landowners have called on the government to intervene as they will lose their lands.