The Minority in Parliament has fingered President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of confirming an ongoing state capture of public lands by officials within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
The Caucus claims that the President’s recent directive, which mandates that all sales of public lands be referred to him first, clearly indicates the widespread and unchecked sale of these lands.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Chairman of Parliament’s Assurance Committee and Member of Parliament for North Tongu, expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the President’s directive.
He questioned the rationale behind the directive, arguing that it suggests a failure by the government to manage public lands effectively.
He said, “If state lands are not being pawned for peanuts by officers of this NPP administration, which the government has consistently denied, why would the President be worried and find it even necessary to issue a directive?”
He was addressing the media in Parliament on Thursday, August 15 in response to claims by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Abu Jinapor that the allegation of state capture is untrue.
The North Tongu MP slammed the President’s order as being ‘too little, too late’ to prevent what he described as the ‘naked land grab, land looting, and state capture’ that has been occurring under the current government.
Ablakwa argued that the only way to stop the alleged illegal sale and mismanagement of public lands is to create a comprehensive State Asset Registry.
He pointed out the lack of transparency in the government’s management of state assets, including lands and government bungalows.
“Are you aware, ladies and gentlemen, that if you ask our ministers today how many bungalows we have, they can’t tell you? It’s not only state lands that they can’t account for,” Ablakwa stated.
He criticized the government’s inconsistency, saying, “When it is time to sell these bungalows under the so-called agrarian development policy, they know where the bungalows are to sell them. But they can’t tell Parliament where these bungalows are located.”
He disclosed that the Minority Caucus is pushing for legislation that would establish a State Asset Registry, prohibiting politicians and politically exposed persons from purchasing state assets. This proposal is part of a Private Members’ Bill that the Caucus is sponsoring.
Ablakwa vowed to present specific evidence of land grabs and state capture by elements within the government in response to a challenge by the Lands Minister.
“They don’t want sunshine, they don’t want to be transparent so that the wanton dissipation, the land grab, the state capture will continue,” he remarked.
Ablakwa promised that the Minority would systematically present evidence of the alleged misconduct