North Tongu lawmaker, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has criticized the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, for failing to publish the list of all state lands and persons who acquired government lands two and half years after parliament made that request.
Mr Ablakwa said that the Lands Minister, after parliament made the request, indicated that he would require enough time to provide the list because the system had not been digitized hence it was difficult to compile the data.
However, Ablakwa said, two and half years after the Miniter requested enough was enough for him to compile the list and provide it to Parliament
“For 2 and half years he hasn’t provided the list,” Ablakwa said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, August 17.
“When I heard he was going to address the press conference I thought he was going to publish the list, that is what we wanted to see.
“If he president can’t account for the state lands all of us should be deeply worried.”
His comments come at a time when Samuel Abu Jinapor said that allegations against public officers acquiring state lands will be looked at if evidence is provided to support the claims that the persons did so in a manner that offends the ethics of public officers.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, August 13, Abu 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.”
The Damongo lawmaker further stated that claims that lands belonging to the judicial service were sold under the Akufo-Addo were false.
He says that the available facts and data at the Lands Commission point out that the lands were sold under the Mahama administration in 2026.
He described the allegation as “palpably falsehood”.
It is recalled that Ablakwa alleged that lands belonging to key state institutions were sold by the current Akufo-Addo administration amid allegations of state capture.
But Abu Jinapor said “The allegation was that the judicial service land was sold under this Akufo-Addo government and that is evidence of state capture but when these allegations are made my attitude is very simple, to put together the record, and assemble the facts before we make any decision.
“When the facts were assembled it turned out that the lands were not sold by under President Akufo-Addo. On the contrary, the land was sold under President Mahama in 2026.
Asked whether the government will take the initiative to retrieve the lands, he said
“If they were not granted properly and we think that the grant is fraught with with fraud or impropriety, why not, we will take steps to retrieve them. Always remember that when it comes to land acquisition, when you have a lease or contract and it is governed by law it is not that straightforward to cancel a lease or withdraw a lease but if there is a need for it we will take those steps.
Source: 3news.com
