September 1958: A.E.A Ofori-Atta leads adoption of Ashanti Lands bill

In September 1958, Ghana’s Minister of Local Government in the CPP government of Kwame Nkrumah, Aaron Eugene Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta, led the Members of the House to adopt the Ashanti Stool Lands Bill.

The bill that was passed into law was meant to give the government the power and control required to manage Kumasi and other stool lands in the Ashanti Kingdom.

This came after the Sarkodee-Addo Commission, following the deposition of the Okyehene of Akyem Abuakwa, investigated the alleged mismanagement of the affairs of Kumasi and Ashanti stool lands.

Details of the move, captured in the September 5, 1958 edition of the Daily Graphic, pointed out that the Bill was passed during a sitting held at the National Assembly.

Before its passage, two opposition motions were filed requesting that the second and third readings of the bill be deferred for three months. They were however defeated by the majority-sided house by 40 votes to 8 and 42 votes to 8.

The opposition side, led by the United People’s Party (UPP), according to the Daily Graphic clipping, refuted that the Bill contravened Ghana's Constitution because it dealt with the traditional functions of the Asantehene as the lands were statutory.

Although the law came into effect, it did not impact land ownership, whereas the revenue accrued from the stool lands was now being managed by the central government at the time.

Minister of Local Government, A.E.A Ofori-Atta, explained the Bill was meant ‘protect the dignity of the Golden Stool’ – a decision that was opposed by the traditional authorities.

Aaron Eugene Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta also served as the 4th Speaker of Ghana's Parliament.



Fast forward to 2021, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in an almost similar fashion, has rejected a section of the Lands Act 2020 that empowers the citizenry to take chiefs to court to account for land sales.

The Act puts the traditional authority in a fiduciary role over lands and empowers subjects to demand accountability over the use of proceeds from land sales.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stated in December 2021, during a meeting between the Ashanti Region House of Chiefs and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, that area under his leadership are exempt from the application of the Act.

He argued that the Asante Kingdom has its systems of accountability pertaining to the sale of land which they hold in trust for his office.

The King, therefore, explained that any suspicion of mismanagement by a traditional council is however reported to his office for appropriate action.

“The elders of various chiefs are the people who can call for accountability and that is when I step in. There is accountability in the kingdom but not to any individual,” he said.

“Not all that is printed here (the Act) is applicable to my jurisdiction. I put chiefs and fetish in charge of the lands in the kingdom. The chiefs are not accountable to any youth,” the Asantehene emphasised.

MA/BOG