The Office of the President has dismissed a petition filed by the Coalition of Concerned Nzema People, challenging the acquisition of 20,000 acres of land by the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC).
The petitioners had demanded that the PHDC sign a comprehensive and binding MoU with Nzema Maanle, chiefs, family heads, and individual landowners and sought the cancellation of the disputed land registration and a halt to the scheduled sod-cutting ceremony.
However, in a statement signed by the Secretary to the President, Ambassador Nana Bediatuo Asante, the presidency maintained that all necessary processes for compulsory land acquisition have been duly complied with, including extensive stakeholder engagement.
“It is palpably false to state that the land in question is being registered in the name of Awulae Annor Adjaye III,” the statement said.
“All processes for compulsory acquisition under the law have been complied with thus far, including extensive stakeholder consultations.”
The presidency also noted that the 20,000 acres of land for the Petroleum Hub project is the subject of compulsory acquisition by the State by the Constitution and the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).
In response to the Presidency’s statement, the group expressed disappointment and concern over the apparent disregard for their concerns and the issues they raised.
“The President’s utter disregard and disinterest in understanding the genuine concerns of the people, rather rubbishing the hundreds of signatures and dismissing the petition with a simple ‘all processes for compulsory acquisition under the law have been complied with thus far, including extensive stakeholder consultation;’ which is false, is rather concerning,” the group said.
The government, through the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC), aims to establish a private sector-owned $60bn Petroleum Hub on a 20,000-acre land in Jomoro Municipality, Western Region, Ghana.
The sod-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place on Monday, August 19, 2024.
-BY Daniel Bampoe