Battling land litigation: Apinto Divisional Council shows the way

The Apinto Divisional Council in the Western Region appears to be leading the pack when it comes to the battle against land litigation, which has become an albatross on the necks of many traditional leaders, heightening tension and chaos in most traditional areas.

Land litigation has been a major problem in the country for several years now, which sometimes lead to many preventable deaths. Many people have passed away and some being sent to jail while others have sustained several degrees of injuries as a result.

The Apinto Divisional Council until recently was bedeviled with serious land litigation and therefore had to come up with ingenious ways to halt the canker

The Divisional Council, headed by Nana Kwabena Angu II, Apintohene of Tarkwa Awudua Divisional Stool and Nana Kwao Adarkwa Bediako III, Gyaasehene known in private life as Dr Peter Ebo Tobbin, who is also the administrative secretary of the council together with their chiefs and elders took a very bold decision to ban the sale of land in the area.

The traditional leaders took the firm decision because it realized that all manner of persons were selling lands indiscriminately to unsuspecting people, third innocent parties defrauding them in the process. People who had no power to sell lands were busily selling lands, denying the Council huge revenues, which could be used for development.

The most shocking aspect was the fact that some licensed surveyors, who have foreknowledge about the boundaries of divisional council veered off their technical mandate, started selling lands indiscriminately.

The courageous decision by the divisional council created some fear and panic among the unscrupulous people who were selling lands to unsuspecting people and offering them fake land titles.

Speaking to Nana Kwao Adarkwa Bediako III, the Gyaasehene on the ban on the sale of lands in the area said , “ After placing a moratorium on the sale of lands, the Apinto Divisional Council set up an office at Tarkwa to solely address the problem of land litigation. All queries and concerns were directed to the office, where officers would educate and inform potential buyers on the right procedures for acquiring land”. He noted that the measure helped the Divisional council to increase revenue from the legitimate sale of lands.

According to him, new processes for acquiring legitimate land have been introduced and all issues relating to land title registration, demarcation etc are being tackled by the Apinto Stool office.

After streamlining the processes for acquiring land, the council then saw the need to lift the temporary ban on the sale of lands . Nana Kwao Adarkwa Bediako III further noted that the Council is yet to be confronted with any land litigation issue after the lifting of the ban.

“People within Tarkwa Awodua Divisional area are now conversant with the right procedures in acquiring land and are always ready to confront or expose people who want to sell lands to them illegally ,” he hinted.

The Apinto Divisional Council, which is seen as the largest divisional council in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area has been tipped among the very few divisional councils to be elevated to a Paramountcy. It has about sixty (60) communities and notable among them are Tarkwa, Huni Ano, Bonsra, Gordon, Asama Kakraba, Bokrekrom, Beina Akyem, Yareyeya New Atuabo among others.