Ga/Dangme States unite under one umbrella to administer their lands and heritage

The Chiefs and High Priests of the Ga/Dangme Community have in unison carried out a bold agenda to administer and appropriate all lands and royalties due the Ga state and the entire Greater Accra Region.

The move according to the authorities is to consolidate their traditional powers over Ga Lands to ensure sanity, order and security of landed properties bequeathed to them by their ancestors.

To that effect the four overlords of the Ga State, namely, thee Ga-Tse of the Tunnmma Royal Dynasty – the Crown King of Akra and the General Overseer, the Shi-Tse, the High-Priest of the Nungua Clan of the Ga State, the Nai-Wulomo, the High-Priest of the Ga State, and the Asere Clan of the Ga State have caused to be formed an organization called, the Ga/Dangme Lands Administration (GDLA) to spearhead these grand agenda.

The GDLA according to its mandate; is to resolve all land litigations, chieftaincy litigations within the Ga/Dangme Traditional Area. The Organization also has a quest to ensure that the Ga/Dangme communities become the most peaceful and happiest place to live and invest in.

According to the promoters of the organization, with Accra being the Capital of Ghana and serving as the host secretariat to the African Continental Trade Agreement (AFCTA) as well as host to other trade and investment hubs, the activities of the GDLA is very crucial in boosting investors’ confidence.

King Ayi Tunnmaa II, Indigenous Chief of Defence of the Ga Dangme Kingdom, from the Tunma Royal Dynasty (The Founder of Akra or Accra), who doubles as the President and founder of the GDLA, in a media interaction said the organization has resolved to bring the Ga/Dangme people together as one unique people with a common cultural heritage.

According to him, the formation of the GDLA is backed by law as it functions as a Traditional Arbitration office, which is within the remit of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010(Act 798).

Nii Ayi Tunnmaa II further buttressed his point by quoting the Lands Act 2020 (Act 1035) which states that “An action concerning any land or interest in land in a registration district shall not be commenced in any court unless the procedures for resolution of disputes under the Alternative Resolution Act 2010 (Act 798) have been exhausted.”

He said the act confers on the four overlords or Traditional Authorities of the Ga/Dangme States as earlier mentioned and by extension the GDLA which was birthed by the traditional Authorities the right of arbitration.

He added that the GDLA has come to ensure and enforce a well-coordinated and negotiated land management policy for the Ga Dangme Communities to ensure their well-being and human capital development.

He also bemoaned the uncontrolled sale, fraudulent land acquisition and land guard phenomenon in Accra which he blames on some unscrupulous Chiefs and traditional leaders who with their poverty-stricken mentality connive with government officials to perpetuate the wanton dissipation of Ga lands.

He disclosed that such acts fuel the continuous and numerous Chieftaincy disputes that have engulfed the Ga/Dangme Communities more especially the Ga State which for close to 20 years has been engrossed with a dispute over the rightful Ga Mantse after the demise of the last substantive Ga Mantse, Boni Nii Amugi II.

He said it is part of the mission of the GDLA to resolve all land litigations, avoid Chieftaincy disputes as well as unite all indigenes of the Greater Accra Region.

“The land of the Ga Dangme People is sacred to them as the Golden Stool in the Ashanti Kingdom and was bequeathed to us through the toil and blood of our forefathers. The Ga/Dangme Lands are before now and ever not for sale,” he chimed.

The indigenous Chief of Defence of the Ga Ga Dangme Kingdom also called for the renewal of all land leases under the jurisdiction of the Ga state.

He said when affected, it will highly impact the titles of lands owned by a lot of individuals and businesses in Accra which will have to revert to the allodial owners for reacquisition.

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