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DISTILLING THE ISSUES IN THE ACHIMOTA FOREST RESERVE RECLASSIFICATION
Will be a bit long though l’ll try my best to make it as short as it can be. So let’s go.
If your point of reference on the news of the reclassification of Achimota Forest as no longer a Forest Reserve was my wall, then please focus and ignore the diversions.
Fact is President Akufo-Addo on Thursday, March 31, 2022 withdrew specified schedules of the 95-years-old colonial-era classification of the Achimota Forest in the Greater Accra Region as a forest reserve under E.I. 144. This has paved way for the redesignation, reclassification, assignment, lease, sale and development of those lands by others beside the State. This isn’t in doubt and ain’t deniable.
Indeed, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has confirmed that.
BACKGROUND
Gazette notification for the withdrawal of the 1927-established forest reserve by the President was on April 19, 2022 and matured about a week ago.
Per the Gazette, the lands in issue ceased to be part of the Forest Reserve at the beginning of this month. Specifically, on May 1, 2022.
The Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly, responsible for the Achimota Area, was directed by the President to draw a District Land use and Spatial Planning Master Plan for the reclassified lands to ensure that private or individual developments are in line with its mandate.
Subsequent to my post today, others questioned whether some within or close to Government won’t be beneficiary owners of the reclassified areas of the Forest.
In response, Government through the sector Minister, Samuel A. Jinapor, today released a cleverly woven statement that partly addresses two issues woven into one.
They weren’t in direct response to my post but let me attempt a dissection for easy assimilation.
In the widely reported instance, Minister Jinapor is reported to have stated that the Forest Reserve won’t be sold.
What most folks didn’t understand was that he meant only parts of the original Achimota Forest Reserve whose status Government hadn’t decided to change under an impending Executive Instrument 154 and not the parts released under E I. 144.
What Jinapor didn’t say or avoided directly also was addressing whether the E.I. 144 reclassiffication can/will lead to private acquisitions, sales, assignments and/or leases of the reclassified land by others, including folks in Government or close to them.
A careful reading of his statement, however, revealed a lot.
FOCUS 1
In his effort to spread responsibility for Government’s act, the Minister in his two-pronged release narrated the history of sales, acquisitions, assignments, leases of the reclassified Reserve. He roped in the Kufuor, Mills and Mahama administrations to buttress the point.
The undeniable fact, however, was that it is the present administration that lifted the use of Achimota Forest as a Forest Reserve. No other Government, for over 95 years, did that.
Again,, a general assertion that the reclassified land will not be sold to private interests isn’t and can’t be supported by the Minister’s own revelations.
Fortunately, Minister Jinapor didn’t even make that claim in relation to the reclassified land as he himself claimed that part (not all) of those lands have been released and assigned by the Owoo Family.
In other words, Government has paved way for sale, lease and assignments of the other undeveloped portions of the reclassified Forest Reserve with the State’s withdrawal of the Reserves Cover and declaration to recognize and approve developments in those areas. Seen?
FOCUS 2
In a smart effort to also share blame, Government sought to raise a number of issues whose critical examination, however, exposes same administration.
It also suggested that a publication on E.I. 144 without reference to E.I. 154 might be for mischievouss purposes. As ofof Government even made both E.I.s available and one refused to see them anyway.
…”This led to the publication of the two instruments, the Forests (Cessation of Forest Reserve) Instrument, 2022 (E.I 144), and the Forests (Achimota Firewood Plantation Forest Reserve) (Amendment) Instrument, 2022 (E.I. 154). The first makes the peripheral portions of the Forest Reserve, which had already been granted to the Owoo Family in 2013, with portions developed, cease to be a Forest Reserve. The second, amends the area of the land that should continue as Forest Reserve”, Government said.
Hold on tight. Don’t be confused by the two pronged issues here. I’ll explain.
A careful examination of the dates of gazettes of E.I. 144 and E.I. 154 shows that E.I. 144 is in effect as law. E.I. 154 isn’t.
We are, therefore, dealing with what is law as of now and what isn’t. What has taken effect as law is E.I. 144, which ceded and reversed the Forest Reserve into a municipal in line with a yet-to-be-established Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly’s Master Plan for the area.
How Minister Jinapor or Government, therefore, expected anyone to use a non-matured E. I. 154 to explain the matured Gazette. E I. 144 can best be explained by spin-meisters.
Truth is, Gazette E.I. 154 hasn’t matured into law and can always be withdrawn and/or amended before maturity. Minister Jinapor is a lawyer and knows or ought to know this.
How they passed a cessation law, while holding in abeyance a confirmation of even others parts of the Reserve is known only to him and Government.
FOCUS 3
The Minsister claimed that as part of measures to ensure that the ceded “area of the Forest is not compromised, both Instruments contain provisions that restrict the nature of the development that can take place on the land. Under E.I. 144 for example, before any development can take place on the peripheral portions of the Forest that has ceased to be a Forest Reserve,
Land Use and Spatial Authority shall prepare a Master Plan for the development of the area, taking into consideration the ecological integrity of the remaining portions of the Forest Reserve…”
In theory, this sounds brilliant and is probably intended to show a certain care for the ecology. But examine the facts against the claims and you’ll end up seeing the statement as nothing but a hollow spin.
Example: Per Government’s own claims and assertions as contained in the Minister’s statement, there have been developments already on the periphery of the now reclassified areas of the Forest Reserve without even the Master Plan.
Since the Master Plan is even yet to be developed by the Okaikwei North Assembly, will the Plan upon development apply retrospectively or prospectively on the old and new assignments respectively?
Is retrospective application of rules and regulations even possible under the Constitution? No! The courts have held so in many cases.
So what does that PR statement of practically little meaning tell you?.
FOCUS 4
This has become the typical refrain of the Akufo-Addo Government and NPP. Whenever caught in their own vomit, they struggle to find ways of roping in the NDC to create a balancing act of of NPP/NDC argument.
So as usual, Abu Jinapor needed to.cite the eco-tourism project under John Mahama as if E.I. I44 was meant to facilitate that project when in truth it was meant to facilitate and regularise development of portions of the Achimota Reserve.
What the Minister didn’t also say was that as an opposition party, the NPP criticised and kicked against the same eco-tourism project it is using as an excuse to rationalise its actions today
Fact is agreements and MOUs and even binding contracts signed in this country by the NDC have been jettisoned several times without implementation by same NPP. So an action of the NDC the NPP criticised can’t be used to back what the party said was wrong then, as right now. Most Ghanaians know this anyway.”
By Alfred Ogbamey
