The Minority in Parliament has called for a probe into the alleged attempt to sell off the official residence of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to a private developer.
During a breakfast forum on Monday, November 20, the Speaker of Parliament revealed that his official residence was almost sold to a private developer. Although he did not name those behind the supposed attempt, he said the property would have been re-registered to the private developer had the Lands Commission not identified the building. Reacting to this, the South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, said the issue is of national concern, and must not be pushed aside.
According to him, if the documentation had gone through, the private developer could have embarrassed the Speaker.
“This is a matter that we ought not to allow it to go without being interrogated,” he said. According to the MP, several properties close to the Speaker’s residence have allegedly been reclassified and sold to private developers.
“All the neighbouring residential properties that share a wall with the Speaker’s official residence have been developed into this obscene and craving for modern apartment building with private people occupying it.
“So you can be in your room and be looking into the compound of the Speaker. It doesn’t happen anywhere on this globe,” he added. But the Lands Commission has denied the Speaker’s claims.
In a statement issued on Monday, November 20, and signed by its Ag. Executive Secretary, Benjamin Arthur, the Commission said the claim is untrue. “The Commission wishes to state emphatically, that at no point in time was the said property sold to a private developer by the Lands Commission,” the statement said.
It proceeded to provide an elaborate background as to developments on the said property since its acquisition in 1920 for government services.
Source: Emma Ankrah
@Obrempong Headlines
