The Police Administration says an allegation made against it by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources that it has procured the services of landguards to reclaim and protect state lands is false.
The Chief Director of the Ministry made the allegation at a Parliamentary Committee meeting on July 10, 2023.
Asking the public to treat the claims with the contempt it deserves, the police described the development as false, baseless and unfounded.
“The Police Service has not on any occasion engaged the services of languards to reclaim or protect its lands. In fact, on the contrary, the Service has in recent times intensified its anti-languard operations in communities affected by the activities of these landguards and this renewed effort will not stop until perpetrators of such illegal activities are brought to justice.
“We wish to assure the public that the Police Service working in partnership with other security agencies, remains committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring public safety and security at all times; and we will continue to count on the support of the good people of Ghana in this regard.”
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Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini said on Monday, July 17, 2023, that the Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Prof. Patrick Agbesinyale, made the revelation to the Committee in Parliament that the service has contracted a land guard to protect state lands.
He told journalists in Parliament on Monday, July 17, that care must be taken in dealing with entities whose actions have been outlawed.
Mr. Suhuyini also said the Committee is requesting to know the terms and conditions of the said contract.
“In our engagement, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources the Chief Director revealed, shockingly, that the Ministry has resorted to engaging a land guard to retrieve and protect government lands.
“Mind you, these are lands that are held on behalf of the people of Ghana and vested in the President to protect it. I am sure that the framers of the Constitution are aware that the president is the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and he is seized with the capacity to ensure that these lands are protected for our common use, that is why the lands are vested in the president, and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is the Ministry tasked with the responsibility of overseeing these lands.
“So for the Ministry to tell us the lack of capacity of the state to protect these lands that are put in trust but to resort to the services of people whose activities have been outlawed for the protection of these lands came to us as a surprise.
“We have therefore demanded from the Ministry the terms and conditions of that unholy relationship between the Ministry and this land guard and his institution. We cannot pass laws that we do not intend to keep. The other shocking part of this revelation was that, according to the Chief Director, it is not only the Ministry that contracted the services of this land guard but also the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police depend on the services of this land guard to protect lands that are under their care.
“If the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police cannot protect their own lands and have to resort to the use of land guards what is the fate of the common Ghanaian who wants to acquire lands and if faced with the challenge of land guards? What was again scandalous was the revelation by Chief Director that this person that is engaged actually has a set-up that the state cannot compete with.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has also described as false, allegations that landguards are employed to protect lands of the military.
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