Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called for an end to the Accra redevelopment policy.
According to him, the policy has outlived its usefulness and is probably the most abused policy in Ghana’s history.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday 17, he stated that the policy while well-intentioned has often been abused by land-grabbing high-ranking officials in successive governments since 1999 to advance their private interests.
This he says, has led to the dislodgment of many public and civil service officials as well as members of government with sensitive positions to give way to private developers and their luxury apartments.
Citing the opinion of then Adenyira JSC in a related case, Samuel Ablakwa read, “I wish to state by way of obiter that the Accra redevelopment scheme of residential properties policy as implemented by both the Rawlings and Kufuor administration has not been wholly satisfactory and has raised a lot of negative comments and issues of morality from the populace.
“The implementation of this scheme has dislodged a lot of government and public officials from their homes to give way to luxury apartments which only a few Ghanaians can afford to rent or buy.
“I would stress that since these public lands were initially used to provide housing for government and other public officials; space should be made available to decently house these officials most of whom own sensitive positions and thus need adequate privacy and security.”
According to the North Tongu MP, the judge’s opinion fully reflects his on the matter.
“This land redevelopment policy has totally outlived its usefulness, it’s been probably the most abused policy in our country’s history and it should not continue,” he said.
“Look, Kojo, I can give you a tall list, judges have not been excluded as victims of this policy, public servants, civil servants, doctors who should be close so that if there is an emergency, you need them close to Korle Bu or close to Ridge hospital, they can be in good proximity, so that they can save our lives they’ve all been dislodged because of this same policy in the name of redevelopment, in the name of in-filling.
“What happens is that the land is sold to people in private sector, sometimes under very dubious circumstances and luxury apartments are constructed as Mrs. Adenyira JSC stated in this judgement and then it leads to many public officials being dislodged,” he said.
He further bemoaned the lack of transparency in how the land is sold and distributed.
“And you see it is important to stress that when you look at the implementation of this policy, we don’t have clear guidelines, there are no clear guidelines as to who benefits, how the land – if there is spare land – how it is auctioned, how it is sold, how you come to won titles.
“It is shrouded in secrecy, a lot of opacity, it’s done behind the scenes before you know you receive an eviction order leave as a public official or as a judge and there are so many harrowing stories. You know, they just evict them and all manner of persons take over,” he said.
Mr. Ablakwa has called for a review of the policy to ensure transparency and accountability.