The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has cautioned against activities of land guards in the region that has been on the rise in recent times.
The REGSEC says it will not countenance any person who employs the services of land guards rather than resorting to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in whom all lands in the region are vested, with his chiefs as caretakers.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the Council who is also the Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, he said land guards who will be caught on any land in the region will not be spared by the law.
He has urged residents to accept and work with the directive to ensure peace prevails in the region.
Find below the statement issued Monday, June 24, 2024.
PRESS RELEASE
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES OF LAND GUARDS IN THE REGION
The Ashanti Regional Security Council has observed with serious concern the gradual surge of illegal operations of land guards in some communities in the region.
Land guards are organized criminal groups employed to protect land and property, over land disputes and controversies, using violence, which always results in the eruption of violent clashes.
Over the years, the Ashanti Region has been fortunate because all stool lands are vested in His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, with his chiefs as caretakers. There is therefore every opportunity, in instances of land controversies and disputes, to appeal to His majesty for the resolution of the disputes.
Based on this fact, the Ashanti Regional Security Council, requests all citizens in the region to use the right procedures to address their land disputes rather than to employ the use of land guards whose activities always threatens law-abiding citizens and result in violence.
The Ashanti Regional Security Council therefore states that any person found to engage the services of land guards will be apprehended, prosecuted, and arraigned before court. The land guards will not be spared either. They will be made to face the full rigors of the law.
It is the expectation of the Regional Security Council, that the public will accept the above directives for strict compliance to ensure peace in the Ashanti region. Let us all work together to make the Region an orderly, safe, and peaceful one.
May God bless the Ashanti Region and our Homeland Ghana.
Thank you.
SIMON OSEI MENSAH
REGIONAL MINISTER
