Protect 1,298 Acres of Indigenous Ancestral Land in Ghana

Add Your Voice to the Call for Justice

We call upon the Government of Ghana, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), and all relevant international human rights bodies to take immediate, enforceable action to protect the 1,298.33 acres of Benimasi-Boadi ancestral land — including the sacred burial grounds of Oheneyere Huahi Yaa Achama Tutuwaa, spouse of Asantehene Osei Tutu I — from the ongoing unlawful encroachment and sale of those lands by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). These lands were never part of the original government acquisition that formed KNUST. The Benimasi-Boadi community holds unencumbered allodial title — the highest form of land ownership under Ghanaian law — which has never been lawfully extinguished. KNUST therefore has no legal basis whatsoever to occupy, develop, or dispose of any portion of this land. It is further a matter of public record that the Chancellor of KNUST has made statements publicly rejecting the existence of family land in Ashanti, in direct contradiction of the Constitution of Ghana, the Land Act 2020, and established customary law principles. These statements, and the absence of any governmental accountability in response to them, have emboldened institutional actors to continue encroaching upon and disposing of Indigenous ancestral land with impunity. We therefore urge the Government of Ghana to uphold the rule of law, enforce the Land Act 2020 without exception, and ensure that no individual — regardless of institutional standing — is permitted to publicly repudiate constitutional and statutory land rights protections without consequence. We further call on all relevant international bodies to hold Ghana accountable to its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and to amplify the voices of Indigenous communities whose rights continue to be violated.