Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has taken a swipe at chiefs in his kingdom whose preoccupation is to sell stool lands.
He is particularly worried such transactions are conducted at the expense of job creation and employment for the people.
Otumfuo says the tendency for chiefs to sell off land entrusted to them at exorbitant prices has scared businesses from setting up in the Ashanti Region.
He says as a result, many people, especially; the youth have been denied opportunity to earn a decent living.
Otumfuo’s sentiments were in reaction to an appeal by the leadership of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to him for land to construct an industrial park.
The leadership of AGI was at the Manhyia Palace on the occasion of Awukudae Festival, Wednesday.
According to Otumfuo, the practice by the chiefs over the the years has cost the region big names like Kinapharma who have not had land to establish their business.
He is unhappy the chief take huge amounts of money over land only to pay peanuts to his land secretariat.
The king has advised the chiefs to arrange with the investors on the use their stool lands as equity. He said when chiefs use their land as equity, their communities can become partners in business establishments.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II promised to facilitate the release of land to AGI to promote industrialization in Kumasi.
Meanwhile, AGI is happy about Asantehene’s intervention. AGI Vice President, Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi called the intervention a remarkable one.
“It’s remarkable news that we’ve heard and we are going to follow it up. Once we get this industrial park, of course we would be able to bring businesses and industries to Ashanti Region which will create employment for the youth that are being born”, he said.
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