Chairman of Parliament’s Assurance Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has charged on the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry over its failure to provide Parliament with a list of state lands sold since 1993.
In February 2022, the Minority requested a list of state lands sold since 2017, but Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor promised to provide a list dating back to 1993.
Responding to inquiries from Mr Ablakwa, the Minister explained that the Lands Commission is still in the process of compiling the list, which he described as a very difficult task.
“The lands commission for all these years has been operating manually, and it is just recently that we have started making efforts to digitise the records of the lands commission, and so the information I have from the commission since I have given them the instructions to compile this list is that compiling from the 16 regions of the lands commission across the country from 1993 to now is quite an extraordinary undertaking, and therefore they have not been able to put it together as yet, and so I am unable to provide it now, but by the work in process and sooner rather than later, I hope we would be able to put all this together and we would make it available to the committee.”
Committee Chairman, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa expressed serious concern over the state’s lack of proper data on all state lands, including those sold.
He noted that two years have passed, yet the Lands Ministry’s response remains unchanged from two and a half years ago, still requesting more time. Mr. Ablakwa said that the minister, who has a reputation to protect, must do better.
The North Tongu MP emphasized that the absence of these records poses significant risks and that having this data is crucial for everyone’s benefit.
“Honourable Minister, if this data is put together and provided, it would help all of us. These instances of government lands being registered as private lands and the fraud that is going on as the lands commission as exposed by the sole inquirer, the only way to stern this, to prevent this, to forestall this is to have the data. Is to put the data together. That is why it is clear in my mind that there are elements at the Lands Commission who don’t want the Ghanaian people to have this data.”.
But Ranking Member, Farouk Aliu Mahama took on his committee chairman for seeking to implicate the Minister.
According to the Yendi MP, the Minister has shown himself a responsible public official who has made commitments to publish this data when other ministers have simply refused to do so.
He said successful government has come and gone, and every year there is a gap, and how to look at the gaps and solve them is necessary and has been bashed.
“I was happy that the chairman and the minister came to an agreement that it is not an issue about partisans; let us not let this land issue be like a partisan issue. Let us take bold decisions and boldness together. Let us not be pointing fingers at this party or this party because, at the end of the day, every party and government has its challenges, and all successive governments have done their bit. It is now the turn of the minister, and we believe that the minister should be able to come up with innovative ways so, at the end of the day, that legacy that he would also leave at the ministry, so successive governments that would come would work on that”.