Accra July 5, GNA - A 828.59 acre land, acquired by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) at Nkaakom in the Ashanti Region some 43 years ago had no Executive Instrument (EI) that transfers total ownership of that assets to the state.

Lieutenant General Joseph Henry Smith, Minister for Defence, who said this during question time in parliament on Monday, added that "no EI crucial in formalizing the acquisition process was passed." He said the land was acquired in 1967 in the Atwima Nwabiagya district for the construction of Barracks for an Infantry Battalion. He said the approval for the acquisition of the land was given and the certificate of allocation was issued on January 25, 1988. He noted that in 2002, a legal firm Hesse and Larsey wrote a letter to the GAF to the effect that the said land belonged to the Toase Stool of Kumasi.

The Ministry, he explained, conveyed a letter of ownership to them but the firm filed a writ in May 2004 at the Kumasi High Court seeking a declaration of title and the recovery of the possession of 475.44 acres out of the 828.59 acres of the land.

He said the Ministry of Defence communicated the matter to the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General for the passage of the EI. Lt Gen Smith however said there had been significant encroachment on the land for various uses including farms and the construction of permanent structures. He said compensation to the land owners could not be paid until the land was re-surveyed to delineate the encroached portions, legal ownership established by the court, acquisition process completed through the issuance of the EI and the valuation of the confirmed size of the land carried out.