Ablakwa questions why govt sells lands in ‘utmost secrecy’ & ‘thick darkness’

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has wondered why the sales of government lands are done in utmost secrecy without any form of transparency and approval from the people who are the real owners of these state lands.

This was after he told the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinpaor that contrary to his comment that the government is not selling state lands, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been busy doing so.

Ablakwa said this is based on intercepted documents from the Lands Commission.

His comment comes at a time when Abu Jinapor had denied allegations of public officers acquiring state lands in a manner that offends the ethics of public officers.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, August 13, Jinapor asked the people making that allegation to provide evidence to back the claims to enable appropriate actions to be taken.

Answering questions at the event, he said “there is a question about selling public lands to public appointees. The rule of the game is evidence, if anybody has evidence that a public appointee has bought public lands and has done so in a manner that offends the code of ethics of public officers and that the person has put himself in a position of conflict of interest, why not, we will take a look at it.

“For myself, as a general rule, I do not think that public appointees should go anywhere near public lands. I think if you want lands to buy, go and look for lands in the private space not public lands because of the very thing line of conflict of interest, it is very easy for you to cross that line but if you have any evidence that any public officer has bought lands and he has done so inappropriately we will be happy to look into that.”

As the Lands Minister under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government puts out deceptive and dishonest assurances that public lands vested under their care on the people’s behalf are “safe, intact and secure” more and more incontrovertible documents continue to expose government’s duplicity.

But in a Post on his X platform, Okudzeto Ablakwa said “Fresh intercepted documents from the Lands Commission confirm that contrary to Minister Abu Jinapor’s assurances two days ago, President Akufo-Addo has been extremely busy selling public lands.

“The intercepted documents in my possession are official search certificates on North La lands from the Lands Commission dated 14th August, 2023, addressed to the La Stool and signed by Gordon Ashirifie, Assistant Land Administration Officer. This followed the La Stool’s application on August 7, 2023 seeking to know the status of state lands acquired by government from the La Stool on March 11, 1943.

The search results did not align with assurances that public lands are ‘safe, intact and secure’ — they rather show the following sales:

1) On 3rd September, 2019 — President Akufo-Addo sold portions to Mask Business Consult;

2) On 29th June, 2020 — President Akufo-Addo sold portions to Fulmen Limited;

3) On 1st October, 2020 — President Akufo-Addo sold portions to Amantra Limited. (Amantra subsequently resold portions to B5 Plus Limited and Devnik Ghana Limited on 5th November, 2020; and then sold remaining portions to Unique Development Company Limited on 27th November, 2020).

He added “It’s quite intriguing to discover that not even the profound enormity of COVID-19 in 2020 could compel President Akufo-Addo to suspend his insatiable appetite for selling public lands. It would be quite interesting to know how much these lands were sold for considering that some buyers appear to be highly connected middlemen who immediately resold the lands to well-established companies with fat turnovers such as B5 Plus and Unique Development. SOA Oversight is still digging.

“One also wonders why these sales are done in utmost secrecy and thick darkness without any form of transparency and approval from the people who are the real owners of these state lands.

This latest State Capture exposé, together with all the others, should explain why the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has refused to publish the full list of state lands sold and those remaining, if any, as demanded by the NDC Caucus in Parliament more than two years ago. I am, however, consoled by incoming President Mahama’s pledge to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and repossess looted state lands.

They can run but they can’t hide. State Capture shall surely be defeated! For God and Country. Ghana First.”

Source: 3news