Confusion over land boundaries threatens peace/development

Wa (Upper West) 11 May ?99

There is growing confusion over traditional land boundaries in the Wa district since the 1992 constitution freed lands in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions from state control.

This, in combination with the numerous chieftaincy disputes waiting to be solved, continues to threaten peace and development in the district.

A survey conducted has shown that the people of Boli have secured a statutory declaration giving them legal ownership of lands, part of which belong to the Sing, Naaha, Loggu and Ga villages, without the knowledge of the traditional authorities.

A petition by the aggrieved communities for the reversal of this declaration is now before the Wala traditional council.

Pusa, Manwe and Sunsi are all making counter claims to Gensien, a large plot of land about 65 kilometres from Wa where huge gold deposits have recently been discovered and currently home to thousands of 'galamsey' operators.

On March 18, the people of Gonga, led by their elders, wrote to the regional directors of the department of town and country planning and the lands commission warning that all documents on their lands which they claim to include N.J Ahamadiyya Training College campus lands at Wa, should be rectified.

In another letter to the Wala traditional council, the land owners (Tenbamba) of the Nakori withdrew recognition of their chief Alhaji Yakubu, alleging that he had sold the lands and embezzled the proceeds.

Mr H.B Salifu, Senior Registrar of the Wala traditional council, attributed these developments which are beginning to threaten the already volatile security situation in the area to the absence of a paramount chief for Wa.

"Some of the landowners have decided to re-demarcate land boundaries because there is no apex traditional authority in the district to stop them," he declared.

An embittered elder of Sing, Alhaji Issahaku Siala, said all statutory declarations on lands "through the backdoor" should be denounced immediately in order to avoid violent clashes.

In a letter dated April 9, 1997, the late Wa Na, Momori Bonbiri, blamed the lands commission for creating the problem at Boli, saying, "the power of the lands commission to manage northern lands were revoked under the constitution".

The letter said the leasing of the lands had led to the encroachment on the lands of many people of this village (Sing) and appealed to the commission to liaise with traditional authorities to ascertain the proper boundaries before preparing data.

In an interview, Mr M.A Alhassan, Upper West regional director of the Lands Commission, said apart from the Boli land no other traditional land had been leased in the district.