14 CSOs petition CHRAJ to probe degazetting, alleged sale of Achimota forest lands

The CSOs are; Civic Response, A Rocha Ghana, Nature and Development Foundation, EcoCare Ghana, Viridis Environmental Consult, Kasa Initiative Ghana, Ghana Wildlife Society, Advocates for Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Watch Ghana, 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon, United Force for Development, Rights Advocacy Initiative Network (RAIN), Tropenbos Ghana and KCODEC.

They also want CHRAJ to expose any situation of conflict of interest and reveal any procedural flaw in the alleged allocation of lands in the forest as well as the Sakumono Ramsar site.

The news of the degazetting of portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve through the Executive Instrument 144, which took effect on 1st May, 2022, has generated a lot of controversy in the Ghanaian media with varied comments being expressed about the propriety of the action amidst the country’s state commitments to environmental protection.

Days after that, the Achimota forest is back in the news after a purported will of former Forestry Commission head, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John became public.

In the purported will, Sir John willed acres of lands he owned in his name and others he owned in the name of his companies in the Achimota forest to some relatives.

The Lands Commission has already said that it has no records to show that Sir John owns lands in the Achimota Forest, but the Ministry for Lands and Natural Resources has said while the purported will is a subject of litigation in court, it is revoking any authority of the said Achimota forest and Sakumono Ramsar site lands to any private individual.

The de-gazetting of some of the Achimota Forest sets a very bad precedent for Ghana’s other protected areas