Effect of constituting land as a forest reserve on ownership
The provisions of CAP 157 and LN 241, leave one in no doubt that upon the publication of an Executive instrument and in this case the Order, LN 241 by the colonial government, the Plaintiff’s rights were restricted within the forest reserve. These restrictions affected their use of the land and not their title or ownership to the land, for Section 17 (1) of CAP 157 is clear that the ownership of the land by the Plaintiffs does not change. The restrictions imposed under the statute, and which were targeted at the preservation of the flora and fauna, placed the management and preservation of the forest in the State or President through the Forestry Commission, for the public interest. Even then, CAP 157 gave an option to the owners to manage the forest reserve under the supervision of the Forestry Commission under section 17 (2), though the said option was subject to the discretion of the Forestry Commission under section 17 (5).
Forest reserve distinguished from compulsory acquisition
From the foregoing, the effect of the constitution of the Yongwa Forest Reserve did not operate to extinguish the rights of the Plaintiffs’ family to the land, as in a compulsory acquisition. While the Plaintiffs’ family maintained certain rights of farming among others, in some parts of the Forest Reserve, compensation was awarded to the Plaintiffs’ family for the loss of use of farms and farming rights in certain restricted portions, as is evident from the proceedings held before the Reserve Commissioner and his Judgment, Exhibit A. As far as the creation of the Yongwa Forest Reserve did not operate as a bar to extinguish all rights of ownership of the Plaintiffs, it was not a compulsory acquisition, as argued by Counsel for the Plaintiffs.
