It appears persons in charge of returning state lands are cutting portions of the lands for themselves - OccupyGhana
Parliament must ensure that a Commission of Inquiry is set to look into the return of state lands - OccupyGhana
Civil Society Organisation (CSO), OccupyGhana, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into all state lands that have been wholly or partly returned to their pre-acquisition owners.
According to the CSO, the inquiry is needed because it seems that government officials involved in the process of returning such lands to their owners take advantage of their position to get parts of the land for themselves at the expense of the state.
In a statement shared on its Facebook page, OccupyGhana added that the Commission of Inquiry is needed because the matter of giving back state land to its original owners has become an issue of national concern.
“Evidence abounds on how some of these lands have ended up in the hands of government officials and their privies. It even appears that some of these officials-beneficiaries were involved in the processes leading to the alleged return of lands. In the face of such apparent conflict of interest and conflict of duty as are outlawed by article 284 of the Constitution, we are not certain that a mere “independent audit” would suffice.
“We think that, in accordance with article 278 of the Constitution, the President should be satisfied, or the Council of State should advise, or Parliament should request, that a Commission of Inquiry be appointed. The people of Ghana need to be informed of ALL return of state lands to “pre-acquisition owners” since the Fourth Republican Constitution came into being on 7 January 1993. There is no better way of doing this than by establishing a Commission of Inquiry appointed under Chapter 23 of the Constitution, with “the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or a Justice of the High Court at a trial” specified in article 279,” portions of the statement read.
The statement added that even though it applauds the independent audit called for by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor the gravity of the issue at hand requires more than just an audit.
OccupyGhana added that should the president fail to set up the commission, Parliament should do all it can to ensure there is a full-scale inquiry into the matter of state lands being returned to their owners.
Read the full statement of OccupyGhana below:
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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo