The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, was dishonest with his claim that all State lands that have been sold were done under the erstwhile Mahama administration.
According to the Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee of Parliament, the current crop of leadership should be interested in pursuing the state of the public lands irrespective of the regime under which they were sold.
His comments come after the sector minister’s denial that the current administration is engaging in the sale of public lands, and rather, such transactions were carried under the Mahama administration.
Addressing the press at a news conference in Accra Wednesday, August 14, 2024, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, described the allegations as “palpable falsehood”.
“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 2015,” he reemphasised.
But Mr. Ablakwa says the State should have interest irrespective of the administration under which the lands were sold.
Speaking on the KeyPoints Saturday, August 17, 2024, he noted that “the Minister was so disingenuous, deliberately dishonest and sought to create the impression that everything we are talking about are matters that happened when the NDC was in power.
“Even if the state assets we are losing, we started losing them even from 20 years ago, I don’t care whether it is Rawlings’ period or President Kufuor’s period, is the Minister saying the current generation of leaders shouldn’t be concerned?” he quizzed.
Abu Jinapor charges those accusing gov’t appointees of capturing State lands to provide evidence
