Paramount chiefs within the Asante Kingdom own
allodial titles to land (Aikins, 2012).
Moreover, after the 1979 Constitution people had become aware that lease agreements between lessor and lessee no longer required endorsement by government in the shape of the Lands Commission, but by the allodial title holder.
Though not entirely clear, the mention of two forms of ownership, 'property' and 'absolute', and the mention of the Beo Rana as landowner, suggest that the chief of Kombosco recognized split land control and the Beo Rana's allodial title.
The
allodial title is the highest interest in land known in customary law, above which there can be no other interest.
Allodial title does not alter the character of the property relationship.
Like chiefs throughout Asante and many other parts of Ghana, the Juabenhene holds
allodial title to lands that were historically attached, and are now constitutionally 'vested', in his stool (see, among others, Berry 2001; Kasanga and Kotey 2001; Woodman et al.
The evidence for the antecedents' true identity is under their noses, particularly in Stern's solid explication of arcane quasi-legal concepts like
allodial titles, land patents and common-law liens.
