The Ministry of Works and Housing has vehemently denied allegations of collusion involving a former Chief Justice and the Sector Minister, Francis Asenso Boakye in a supposed sale of the official residence of the late Justice Samuel Marful-Sau.
Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, was captured on a viral video making the allegation recently while addressing NPP faithful in the Ashanti Region.
The Ministry, in a statement, firmly refuting the accusations asserted there has been no sale of the property in question. Instead, the ongoing developments at the late Justice Marful-Sau’s official residence are part of the Government Redevelopment Programme (GRP), initiated as far back as 1992.
The GRP, according to the Ministry, has seen implementation by successive governments within the Greater Accra Region, specifically in neighborhoods like Kanda, Cantonments, West Ridge, Roman Ridge, Osu Ringway, Airport Residential Area, and Labone.
The Cabinet, it said, approved a revised scheme in May 2018, extending the program to include additional neighborhoods.
“The Programme has since positively contributed to the growth of these prime neighborhoods, which currently serve as accommodation for a greater number of public sector workers than before,” the Ministry stated.
The Ministry emphasized that the land in question has not been sold and remains the property of the State adding, “For the avoidance of doubt, the said land has not been sold as it is mischievously being alleged.”
The full text of the statement
RE: ALLEGATION BY HON. KENNEDY AGYAPONG ON SUPPOSED SALE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY
The attention of the Ministry of Works and Housing has been drawn to a video of Hon. Kennedy Agyapong in which he alleges that there was a collusion between a former Chief Justice and the Sector Minister to sell the official residence of the late Justice Samuel Marful-Sau.
The Ministry strongly refutes the allegation and states that there has been no such sale of the property.
The facts are that the current developments taking place at the official residence of the late Justice Marful-Sau form part of the Government Redevelopment Programme (GRP).
The GRP, which dates as far back as 1992, has since its inception, been widely implemented by successive Governments within the Greater Accra Region, specifically in Kanda, Cantonments, West Ridge, and Roman Ridge. On 14th May 2018, the Cabinet approved a revised scheme regarding the GRP to include other neighborhoods such as Osu Ringway, Airport Residential Area, and Labone.
The GRP was necessitated by the need to find residential accommodation in Accra for the ever-growing number of public and civil servants.
The program is underpinned by the philosophy to optimize the government’s prime lands located within old run-down neighborhoods of Accra and other major cities in the country.
The objectives of the Programme are, among others:
i. Achieve higher and optimum densities in prime areas and ensure efficient utilization of existing infrastructure.
ii. Contribute to the positive impact of the growth of our major cities by mitigating the rapid horizontal sprawl.
Achieve a significant increase in the total stock of both government and private residential properties countrywide and
iv. Improve the urban context and neighborhood characteristics of the old residential properties in our major cities.
The Programme has since positively contributed to the growth of these prime neighborhoods, which currently serve as accommodation for a greater number of public sector workers than before.
In tandem with the GRP, the Ministry continues to discharge its mandate to provide housing to public sector workers.
Currently, the Ministry is redeveloping four (4) of such structures which sit on about three acres of land in Roman Ridge, which formerly served as official residences for a late Supreme Court Justice; an Appeals Court Judge, a Minister of State, and a retired Chief Director.
Upon completion of this particular redevelopment, the three (3) acre land will now have 20 housing units for Ministers and other senior government officials and 4 units for Superior Court Justices. A memorandum of understanding for this arrangement with the Judicial Service has since been signed by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing and the Judicial Secretary.
For the avoidance of doubt, the said land has not been sold as it is mischievously being alleged and remains the property of the State. The GRP is rather a cost-effective undertaking that ultimately gives optimal benefit and ensures efficient use of government lands.
Issued by Public Relations Unit
TO ALL MEDIA HOUSES
