The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, says the claim that the residence of a Clerk to Parliament was sold in 2019 is false.
According to him, the said residence was rather sold to a private developer in 2015, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in office, but the developer took possession in 2019, under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Damango, Abu Jinapor, revealed this on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, November 23, 2023 during his debate on the 2024 budget statement.
The minister confidently asked that the Hansard captures his claim, arguing that the records with the Lands Commission on the said property were unimpeachable and would bear him out.
He said, “Not too long ago, it was said that the accommodation or residence of the Clerk of Parliament was sold in 2019. I want to submit in this House, a House of records. And I want the Hansard to capture it: that my checks at the Lands Commission suggest that the Clerk of Parliament’s accommodation or residence was sold in 2015 and not 2019.”
Abu Jinapor told Parliament that, “the then Minister for Works and Housing” gave an offer to a private developer in 2015, and a lease was granted to the developer in 2015.
“These records are unimpeachable. It happened in 2015, not 2019. It just so happened that the developer, having bought the land in 2015, having been given an offer letter in 2015 and having been granted the lease in 2015, took possession in 2019. So, by all intents and purposes, the land was sold in 2015 and not 2019,” he insisted.
UNESCO
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Abu Jinapor, also refuted the claim that the land that accommodates the building of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been sold.
The minister urged his colleagues to be mindful of passing “sweeping statements” to misinform the general public.
His premise was that the constitutionally mandated institution with the repository of public lands and its records is the Lands Commission, adding that their records indicated that the UNESCO property had not been sold.
“I want to submit, Mr. Speaker, but first of all, I will respectfully advise that we should be careful in making, for want of a better expression, sweeping statements such as that, that UNESCO building has been sold. I want to put for the records that UNESCO is still occupying their office premises close to the Police Headquarters,” he asserted.
CLAIMS
In a statement signed by the Director of Media Relations Department of Parliament, David Sebastian Damoah, to address issues surrounding the sale or otherwise of the residence of the Speaker, it was alleged that the official accommodation of a sitting Clerk was sold in 2019.
The statement said, “A trip down memory lane reveals that sometime in 2019, the official accommodation of a sitting Clerk to Parliament, located in Cantonments, was sold to a private developer.”
The MP for Akatsi North, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, during his debate on the 2024 budget on Thursday, alleged that government had “sold the government land for UNESCO Ghana.”
He demanded the identities of the seller and the buyer.
This situation, he claimed, cuts across the education sector, as some lands belonging to some schools have been sold.
DEBATE
Concluding his debate on the budget, the Minister stated that the government had turned the corner, citing that the autumn budget of the United Kingdom, presented to the House of Commons, as similar to that of Ghana.
According to him, that was the direction of the economic recovery of the world, and he was confident that the 2024 budget would “unleash prosperity.”
He had earlier mentioned the positive impact of the Gold4Oil programme, saying that it had increased the gold reserves of the nation.
He observed that the exchange rate had dropped as a result of the Gold4Oil programme and commended the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for the initiative.
On the part of the minority, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, MP for Akatsi North, debated that the school feeding programme, though laudable, needs a total overhaul.
He argued that the amount allocated for each student was inadequate to provide a healthy meal for the children in school, adding that “it is all malnutrition we are doing.”
