• The Lands Commission has disputed claims that the Tamale timber market is being sold

• The Commission called on traders and occupants to feel free and carry on with their business

• The commission also said the occupants need to visit its office to regularize their stay

The Northern Regional wing of Lands Commission has denied claims of serving a notice to occupants of the timber market in Tamale to vacate the space because it has been sold to a private developer.

According to the commission, the property has not been sold and the occupants should be free to carry out their daily activities.

“The commission wishes to inform the general public and, particularly, people doing business in the market that the timber market has not been sold to anybody. It was also not true that those occupying the place and doing business in timber have been served with notices to vacate the place,” the commission stated.

Addressing a press conference in Tamale last Thursday, May 20, 2021, the Northern Regional Chairman of the Lands Commission, Dubik Mahama Yakubu, explained that the timber market is state land that was covered by a planned layout and people who did business there had been on the land for several years without paying anything to the state.

“I wish to emphasize that anybody or organization which does not acquire state land through the lands commission will never be granted any title because this is an illegality that should not be condoned,” he stated.

Mr Yakubu further stated that what the commission had requested those occupying the land to do was for them to regularize their stay by applying for leases to cover their holdings to provide them with the security of tenure and that idea was mooted last year but preliminary discussions did not go far with their leadership.

The press conference was in reaction to claims by the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, that the timber market land in Tamale had been sold by the Lands Commission and those occupying the land had been served notice to vacate during an interaction with some of his constituents last Saturday.