Ablakwa calls for legislation to prevent politicians from buying state assets

The Chairman of the Operation Recover All the Loot (ORAL) Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has underscored the need for legislation to prevent political appointees and exposed persons from acquiring state assets.

He said the law would prevent a future occurrence of the acquisition of state property by private and politically exposed persons.

Mr Ablakwa, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, was briefing journalists during a site visit to some state lands at Cantonments, Labone and La Wireless, all in Accra yesterday by members of the ORAL team.

The visit was to gather evidence and validate reports received on the lands alleged to have been sold to political appointees and cronies of the previous administration for redevelopment.

Members of the committee on the visit included the former Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo; Commissioner of Police, Nathan Kofi Boakye (retd); a legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, and former investigative journalist, Raymond Archer.

ORAL’s commitment
Mr Ablakwa reiterated the commitment of ORAL to recover state assets and fight corruption, dismissing claims that its efforts were merely a “flash in the pan” or a political gimmick.

He said the work of the committee was multifaceted and far-reaching, with several phases designed to ensure that justice was served.

He explained that its current phase focused on gathering evidence and compiling data, which would be followed by confiscations, retrievals, recoveries, prosecutions and further investigations.

He emphasised that its work was not limited to the current phase, but rather was part of a broader strategy to combat corruption and promote national reconstruction.

He said the committee’s efforts were also expected to lead to reforms, including legislation prohibiting politically exposed persons from purchasing state assets and changes to how the Lands Commission valued state assets.

Ultimately, the ORAL Committee is committed to ensuring that those responsible for misappropriating state assets are held accountable while the Ghanaian people receive justice.

“The Ghanaian people want to see the end of this. They want us to get to the bottom,” he said.

The team visited the Agri-mechanisation Centre, Northern Development Authority (NDA) Office, 10 bungalows for staff of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), all at Cantonments, a State Housing Company property at Labone and the African Union Village at La Wireless, all in Accra.

At the Agri-mechanisation centre, the roofs of all the structures on the land had been removed, leaving documents and agricultural machinery to the mercy of the weather.

Other tenants on the land at the agri-mechanisation centre were the Vegetable Producers Exporters Association of Ghana, the National Vocational Training Institute workshop and an office of the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project under the Ministry of Local Government who have been asked to vacate the land to make way for the redevelopment.

At the NDA office, a portion of the land fenced for redevelopment was said to have been demolished by the state security after the visit.

The ORAL team told journalists that the CSIR staff bungalows have been sold to a private developer with ties to the previous government but are yet to be demolished. The tenants have been served with ejection notices since December 30, 2024.

Mr Ablakwa assured the affected staff of their protection and safety, adding that they would not be ejected and that their issue would be included in the report to the President.

State capture
The legislator described the situation as a ‘state capture’ and attributed it to the “insatiable greed” of political appointees and politically-exposed persons.

Mr Ablakwa also commended President Mahama’s directive to halt all land transactions, describing it as timely and crucial. The directive, issued on January 10, 2025, instructs the Lands Commission to stop finalising any arrangements and halt all processes.

Mr Archer, for his part, reiterated that the visit was to validate petitions and concerns about appropriation of state property to private and politically exposed persons.

” We are here today as you have witnessed to go through side by side to see whether indeed what is contained in the petition actually exists or not.

You have seen it for yourselves. You can draw your own conclusions about what has happened in the past.

As far as we are concerned, we are going to include this in our report to the President and further action will surely be taken on these issues,” he said.

“You’ve seen public officials that are actively working for the state being ejected from their homes to make way for private interest and also interests that are connected to other public officials.

This is obviously what our President campaigned against and you are witnesses to what has happened,” he added.

source: graphiconline