Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has asserted that the National Cathedral is being built on a land that was procured in 1910 by the state. According to him, the land which is about 16.26 acres was part of a large portion of land that was acquired by the state by a Certificate of Title, on September 29, 1910.
Mr. Abu Jinapor claims that the land is therefore a communal land vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the citizenry by article 257 (1) of the Constitution. He said this when he was answering to some questions in Parliament last Tuesday.
Mr. Jinapor was being interrogated by Member of Parliament of Adaklu, Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza on whether the government forcefully acquired the landed property that formed the location on which the National Cathedral was being situated and if that was the case, had the government fully compensated the former owners of the land as per the provisions of the law?
Answering the question, Mr. Abu Jinapor told the Speaker of Parliament that according to section three of the Public Lands Ordinance, 1876 (Cap 134), which was the valid law at the time, the pre-procurement owners were fully compensated.