New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has expressed concern over Ghana’s land tenure system, warning that it has consistently deprived customary landowners of their rightful benefits while foreign companies reap massive profits.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Mr. Agyepong said the current system needs urgent reforms to ensure fairness and transparency. “I am worried by what is happening, not only because of galamsey, but landowners have been deprived of what is theirs in this country. The initiative I’m preaching will review and reform our land tenure system, making sure that compensation frameworks are very transparent,” he explained.
He expressed frustration that multinational companies gain more from Ghana’s resources than locals. Citing an example, he said: “How is it that a company can come into Ahafo and make so much money, sell off some of their shares for $1 billion to a Chinese, and then the indigenous people are left to rot in the dust? For me, I find it unacceptable if our generation cannot exploit our God-given resources for the benefit of everybody and future generations. You are better off leaving it in the ground.”
Mr. Agyepong noted that this injustice is not a recent development, recalling how lands were forcibly taken during the colonial period through executive instruments, leaving landowners uncompensated while foreign interests took control.
He further criticised how the bulk of profits from Ghana’s resources end up abroad. “If you go to the boardrooms in London, Canada, and Australia, where the mining cabals are, they are enjoying millions of dollars from poor Ghana. I think it’s something I do not accept, and we’ve got to find a way of re-engineering that,” he added.
