Editorial
Let’s find a lasting solution to land guards’ activities
Land guards’ activities are increasingly posing a risk to private developers in urban areas and making it difficult for people to develop their land. Finding a lasting solution to this threat is necessary.
A group of people known as land guards attack and vandalise real estate developers and their projects.
Even though the majority of these private developers have legitimately acquired their land, these land guards intimidate, harass, threaten with all manner of weapons, and even beat their victims.
Due to the land guards’ avarice, some victims have even sustained cutlass wounds. While some land guards go around collecting digging fees and preventing labourers from working, others resort to using force to extort large sums of money from property owners.
People’s attempts to acquire and develop their parcels of land, especially those living in expanding urban communities, have become so frustrating, and the actions of these land guards have dashed the hopes of many.
The fact that people who legitimately acquired plots of land with the necessary documentation have had to abandon their projects out of fear of being killed by these land guards, as it has happened to some in the past, is extremely disturbing.
The initial purpose of the introduction of land guards was to safeguard the legitimate owners of lands, whether they be family, individual, or stool lands, from encroachments. However, some people have abused the situation to take advantage of helpless people and engage in multiple land sales.
Their actions are now more of an annoyance than a deterrent to encroachment. Some private developers, however, have turned to the courts to handle their cases to prevent them from losing their hard-earned investment.
The harassment of residents of the Amamole community in the Ga North District by land guards is a prime example of this. Residents were terrorised in the community and were forced to cry for protection and appeal to the Police and social intervention groups to help them.
Residents claim that these land guards forcibly took from them pieces of land they had purchased for more than 12 to 50 years with proper documentation, demolishing some buildings in the process.
The Spectator is worried that despite government measures to ward off land guards, they are still able to pursue their agenda. To avoid land disputes, individuals must search at the Lands Department before doing business on lands.
Also, those who parade themselves as land owners but in actual fact are crooks selling the same land in multiples should be reported to the appropriate authorities for the law to deal with them.
Let us make a concerted effort to ward off these land guards to enable individuals acquire parcels of land genuinely and be free to develop them so they can have a decent place to lay their heads.
We hope that the activities of land guards will sooner or later become a thing of the past.
Dear Editor,
Over the past few months, the ages of some drivers of commercial vehicles continue to baffle me.
This is common during weekends when one boards any of the commercial vehicles – be it trotros and okada.
I remember, I boarded a taxi from the Accra Central area towards the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area. When I sat in the vehicle, I realised the driver was a young boy. Specifically, he said he was 18.
I know our laws do not permit youth under the age of 21 to be driving; that is clearly against Ghana’s Road Traffic laws for operating commercial vehicles.
Some commuters have even had confrontations with station masters over the issue and have refused to board vehicles driven by underage individuals, despite the risk of arriving late for work.
This situation is deeply disturbing because it puts the lives of passengers and other road users at risk.
No matter how skilled such drivers may be, allowing underage persons to operate commercial vehicles is wrong and unlawful. Laws governing road safety are meant to protect lives, and ignoring them only increases the chances of accidents and loss of lives.
I therefore urge the relevant authorities, especially the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, to strictly enforce the age requirements for commercial driving in the country.
Baba
Labadi
The advantages of focusing on girls have been evident over the years. However, current research indicates that the statistics pertaining to boys are still declining.
Approximately 69 percent of boys and 73 percent of girls finish primary school. While Senior High School (SHS) enrollment trends have lately changed, with females significantly outnumbering males (about 110 girls to every 100 boys), Junior High School (JHS) gender parity remains stable, with the Gender Parity Index (GPI) remaining between 1.00 and 1.03.
The Gender Parity Index (GPI) indicates parity between girls and boys.
Although encouraging education for girls is essential for Ghana’s development, the strong emphasis has unintentionally led to inequalities for boys.
Many stakeholders worry that affirmative action and unequal resource distribution put males at risk, which can occasionally lead to increased dropout rates and behavioural issues in specific neighbourhoods.
There has been a lot of discussion among Ghanaian sociologists and educators about the disproportionate support given to girls and how it affects boys.
They claim that the majority of scholarships and special facilities are frequently disproportionately given to girls, which boy child advocates contend makes young men feel ignored or disadvantaged.
Due to these differences, Apostle Professor Kwabena Agyapong-Kodua, Vice Chancellor of Pentecost University, has voiced serious concerns and is pushing for a deliberate discussion about the education and development of boys in order to build stronger families and societies.
The statement was made by Apostle Prof. Agyapong-Kodua during a seminar hosted by the Church of Pentecost Schools Outreach Ministry in Accra on May 16, which is International Day of the Boy Child.
It was organised in association with the Pentecost Men’s Ministry and the Ghana Education Service (GES) under the theme “Flourish and Thrive: Investing and Unleashing Boys for Strong Families and Communities.”
Apostle Prof. Agyapong-Kodua revealed that many young males are vulnerable due to inadequate mentoring, a decline in schooling, negative social media influences, and emotional neglect.
Additionally, he stated that the boy child faced numerous difficulties, including aggression, substance addiction, academic decline, emotional neglect, and the lack of strong role models, as a result of the focus shifting to the girl child.
He worries that since boys are essential to the development of the country, they should not be overlooked in discussions about leadership, education, family stability, and national reform.
The Spectator agrees with Apostle Prof. Agyapong-Kodua and believes that while it is important to train girls, neglecting boys can impede social advancement by causing differences in behaviour and education between young men and women.
“If we don’t make an effort social media will train our children for us. We’re not saying they shouldn’t use social media, but we should help them get the information they need to succeed in life,” he said.
The Spectator believes that the GES would adopt gender-responsive education in order to guarantee that classroom instruction meets the requirements of both boys and girls equally.
Let’s continue to be dedicated to making sure that no child is left behind.
