Accra, March 3, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday granted audience to a delegation of chiefs from the Manya Krobo Traditional Area in the Eastern Region which called to convey their appreciation for the creation of the new Upper Manya District Assembly.

Led by Nene Okpatapla Sasraku IV, Acting President of the Traditional Council, the delegation was also at the Castle to plead for Government's intervention in the resolution of some land disputes the Council was involved in.

The Manyas are locked in a dispute with the Yilos over the ownership of the limestone at Odugblaase and with the Osudokus over the Akuse lands.

Nene Sasraku said there was growing agitation in the area as a result of the delay in publishing the Report of the Committee set up by the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council to determine the rightful ownership of the Odugblaase land.

He added that the youth and individual landowners were putting a lot of pressure on the chiefs on the issue. Nene Sasraku said the unresolved dispute with the Osudokus on which traditional council had legitimate title to the Akuse lands was stifling Manya of stool lands revenue.

He said the creation of the new district would undoubtedly help to speed up the pace of socio-economic development of the area.

"We thank you for honouring the promise you made to us at Asesewa in 2004."

President Kufuor counselled amicable resolution of the disputes and said they should ensure that legal processes were used to clear the matter. The Akuse land, he noted, was so fertile for agriculture that its commercial exploitation should not be inhibited by disputes. Touching on the Report on Odugblaase, President Kufuor said it was his hope that its release would help to bring a happy ending to the problem between the Manyas and Yilos.