The Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Akruyinga Ayine, has raised alarm over what he describes as a “Tsunami of land compensation claims” against the state, warning that the growing number of cases pose a serious threat to Ghana’s public finances.
According to him, land compensation claims running into billions of Ghana cedis are currently making their way through the courts, with some individual claims amounting to as much as GH¢500 million.
Dr Dominic Ayine made these remarks when he addressed Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang during her maiden visit to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department recently.
“Because we have a responsibility to the state as our only client, we must defend the interests of the Republic as much as possible. There are a lot of land matters, especially land compensation, and Your Excellency, those are becoming a big headache for me as the Minister of Justice,” he said.
He explained that many of the claims date as far back as the colonial era, with claimants relying on archived documents to argue that compensation for compulsorily acquired lands was never paid by the colonial government.
“Some of these claims are as much as GH¢500 million. People go and dust documents from the archives and claim that the colonial government did not pay compensation for land.
“They then take the government to court and for some reason, they pursue these cases all the way to the Supreme Court,” Dr. Dominic Ayine noted
Describing the situation as deeply worrying, the Attorney-General said preliminary assessments suggest the total value of the claims could run into several billions of Ghana cedis.“The last time we sat down and did a rough calculation, we realised we are looking at billions of Ghana cedis in land compensation claims,” he said.
The Attorney-General disclosed that he has directed the Solicitor-General to prepare a comprehensive briefing for President John Dramani Mahama on the scale and implications of the land compensation crisis confronting the state.
Beyond land compensation, the Attorney-General also outlined the broad constitutional mandate of his office, which includes drafting all government legislation, handling civil cases for and against the Republic, and instituting criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.
“No law is passed in this country unless it goes through the Legislative Drafting Division of the Attorney-General’s Department,” he stressed, adding that the division is critical to effective governance, but is at risk of being overstretched and under-resourced.
Dr. Ayine further revealed that the Civil Division of the Department was currently handling ten international arbitration cases, most of which are against the Government of Ghana.
“We inherited about nine international arbitrations when we came into office. Only one new case has been filed since then, brought by a company known as Blue Boat,” the Attorney-General said.
He clarified that although the current administration was technically responsible for defending these cases, the actions that triggered most of the arbitrations occurred before it assumed office.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang’s visit, he said, was timely, as it offered an opportunity to draw government’s attention to the mounting legal and financial risks facing the state, particularly in relation to land compensation claims.
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The post Ayine Worried Over ‘Biting’ Land Compensation Claims Against Government appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
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