Parliament has lamented the sale of lands previously allocated to it and has activated measures to retrieve some of these lands.
This was disclosed by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, earlier this week at a breakfast meeting where he had cause to lament the near sale of his official residence at Cantonments.
The Parliamentary Service Board has made more disclosures on the Speaker’s residence and its suitability relative to his security.
They lamented in a statement dated November 22 that Bagbin is currently living in an area that has his security compromised because of his type of neighours.
“A visit to the official residence of Rt. Hon. Speaker will unveil that almost all the surrounding buildings and accompanying parcels of land have been sold out to private developers. High-rise apartments have been constructed all around, leaving the Speaker's residence as an island and endangering the safety and security of the Rt. Hon. Speaker,” their statement read in part.
Parliament also demanded that government takes action with respect to the near sale after the Lands Commission in an earlier statement denied that the Speaker’s residence at any point in time was the subject of any sale.
Read their full statement below:
PRESS RELEASE
MR. SPEAKER'S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE AND RELATED ISSUES
We, refer to the media stories on, and reactions to the statement by the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, regarding the official residence of the Speaker of Parliament.
It must be noted that, Mr. Speaker stated the attempt at selling his official residence, which he made reference to during the Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Accra, on Monday 20% November, 2023. The potential buyer proceeded to the Lands Commission for the necessary due diligence and realised the status of the property. That was when Mr. Speaker got to know about it
We also wish to state as follows:
1. The Rt. Hon. Speaker did not say that the Speaker's official residence had been sold. What he said was that it was almost sold.
2. The reactions by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Works and Housing and the Lands Commission so far have not tackled the subject matter of the alleged sale.
3. A visit to the official residence of Rt. Hon. Speaker will unveil that almost all the surrounding buildings and accompanying parcels of land have been sold out to private developers. High-rise apartments have been constructed all around, leaving the Speaker's residence as an island and endangering the safety and security of the Rt. Hon. Speaker.
4. 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. Other properties assigned to parliament have suffered similar fate.
5. We are encouraged by the decision of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to investigate this matter and hope the investigations will establish who attempted to sell, and who the potential buyer was.
6. Transparency in this matter is of utmost importance for the sake of public confidence in state institutions.
-END-
SIGNED
DAVID SEBASTIAN DAMOAH
DIRECTOR, MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Speaker Alban Bagbin