The Energy Ministry has commenced a stakeholder engagement in communities with the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region for the acquisition of a 20,000-acre plot of land for the Petroleum Hub.

Back in March 2019, Cabinet gave the approval for the establishment of the much-awaited petroleum hub in the Western Region to house all infrastructure projects in the petroleum industry.

In a new study, researchers say that land inequality is rising in most countries. Worse, new measures and analysis proves that land inequality is significantly higher than previously recorded, with data reporting a 41 percent increase compared to traditional census data.

Following the development, the community leaders have asked the company to vacate their land for the interest of peace, alleging that it was illegally acquired.

Indigenes of Illushi community in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State have disagreed with a rice farming company, Skaff International Agro Farms Limited, over the acquisition of a vast portion of land for agricultural purpose.

A group of civil society organisations called the Sierra Leone Land Alliance (SLLA) has released a report critical of the situation land ownership and acquisition in the country, with particular emphasis on the Western area.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs that he will set up a committee to take a comprehensive look into the issue of the compulsory acquisition of lands by the government in the region.

The committee, which would be established to start work next year, would look at the possibility of restoring lands to their allodial owners, he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he addressed the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs in Dodowa yesterday as part of his working tour of the region.

The first ever global dataset that quantifies tenure insecurity puts Botswana in a category of countries with the highest land and property insecurity.In terms of the Prindex, a methodology for measuring tenure security for land and property around the globe, more than 30 percent of Botswana’s adults (18+ years of age) feel insecure about their land or property rights. In terms of the Prindex, which was developed by a London think tank, more than 30 percent represents extremely high levels of insecurity.

The first of 10 Mondulkiri public officials implicated in illegal land grabbing in the province has been transferred from his position — a warning to others, according to a government spokesperson, but for local rights monitors a sign of continuing impunity over imprisonable crimes.

An inter-ministerial working group concluded an investigation into illegal encroachment of protected forests in Mondulkiri in late August, identifying 10 governmental officials allegedly involved in stealing state land.

Settlers living adjacent to Adventure Park at 14-Mile in Central Province had their homes demolished yesterday, allegedly without being served a proper eviction notice. It is claimed the demolition exercise is the result of a directive from the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) over the Ilimo Farm land dispute in relation to a state lease on portion 1221. There are more than 400 settlers who have acquired, developed and settled on the land they claimed to have bought from customary owners, who are now the victims of the eviction.

According to a 2017 research paper titled “An Assessment of Public-Private Partnerships in Land Servicing and Housing Delivery”, the pressure on municipal and central governments to allocate adequate attention and finance to house urban populations, especially the poor has been on the rise.

The residents stated that Nwoko had successfully bought over senior policemen in Delta State and Abuja, who allegedly assisted him in intimidating and arresting those, who opposed his attempt to forcefully acquire additional 90 hectares of land from an area earmarked for all indigenes of the community.

Residents of Idumuje Ugboko community in Delta State have accused former senator, Ned Nwoko, of using the police and Ministry of Justice to dubiously harass, intimidate and lock up elders and sons of the town.

Binit Agrawal analyses the global impact of a Thai court judgement, which provides a judicial forum to farmers from Cambodia, who were victims of transnational land grabbing.