By Our Roving Scouts
The New Crusading GUIDE has intercepted an official communication from the Lands Commission addressed to the Clerk to Parliament; requesting the Parliamentary Service to provide it (Lands Commission) with ” information on the attempted sale, and any other relevant information on the Speaker’s official residence to enable us conduct thorough investigations into the matter raised by the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the Parliamentary Service “.
The official communication is contained in a letter dated 23rd. November, 2023, and signed by Surv. Benjamin Arthur, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission. The letter was/is copied to the Chief of Staff, Office of the President, Jubilee House, the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Parliamentary Service, Parliament House, Accra, Hon. Minister, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministries, Accra, and the Chairman, Lands Commission, Accra.
While welcoming the interest of the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the Parliamentary Service in the management of public lands in the country, as it is the surest way of safeguarding the public interest, the Lands Commission proceeded to clarify that its press release of 20th. November, 2023, was not a direct response to the comments made by the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum, but the media reports that followed which suggested that the Lands Commission had sold and/or attempted to sell the official residence of the Rt. Hon. Speaker while he was still occupying the said property.
“The Hon. Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has, subsequently, directed the Commission to investigate the matter, and submit a report to him, accordingly. We would therefore, respectfully, request that you furnish us with information on the said attempted sale, and any other relevant information on the Speaker’s official residence to enable us conduct thorough investigations into the matters raised by the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the Parliamentary Service “, articulated the Acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission.
“THE COMMISSION WOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED THE MATTER AND TAKEN NECESSARY ACTION IF THE RT. HON. SPEAKER OR THE PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE HAD REPORTED THE SAID ATTEMPTED SALE TO THE COMMISSION. UNFORTUNATELY, THE COMMISSION FIRST LEARNT OF THE SAID SALE IN THE MEDIA, FOLLOWING ONGOING PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON THE MATTER, PROMPTING ITS RESPONSE” (Caps-ours), clarified the Acting Executive Secretary in relation to the Lands Commission’s decision to respond to the widespread reports in both mainstream and social media networks in the wake of Speaker Bagbin’s disclosure of the alleged attempted sale of his official residence at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum held on Monday, 20th. November, 2023 at the Alisa Hotel, Accra.
The Lands Commission recalled that in its press release of 20th. November, 2023, it underscored that the land in question on which the Speaker’s official residence is situated, is a public land acquired by the State in 1920, and as such, no person other than the Lands Commission, has the right to make any grant, sale or lease of the said property.
“IT IS IN THAT RESPECT THAT THE COMMISSION SOUGHT TO CLARIFY THAT AT NO POINT IN TIME HAD THE COMMISSION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, SOLD, OR ATTEMPTED TO SELL, THE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE RT. HON. SPEAKER. AS WE INDICATED, WE HAVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY, RATHER EXECUTED A CERTIFICATE OF ALLOCATION IN FAVOUR OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE, TO REGULARISE ITS INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY”, emphasized the Acting Executive Secretary.
The Lands Commission seized the opportunity to further clarify certain matters raised in the Parliamentary Service’s press release dated 22nd. November, 2023 which was signed by Mr. David Sebastian Damoah, Director, and Media Relations Department.
The Commission noted that the current official residence of the Speaker was designated as such only in 2003.
That development, it underscored “became necessary after the Speaker’s original official residence was de-confiscated and returned to its original owner. It was therefore, not until the year 2003 that a Speaker of Parliament occupied that property for the first time”.
” *Prior to the property being designated as the Speaker’s official residence, in 1995, the entire Cantonments Residential Area was earmarked for redevelopment, under Government’s Redevelopment Agenda. Several properties in the area were therefore granted to private developers as far back as that time. Indeed, some of the grants predate the Redevelopment Agenda, dating back to 1976. Other grants were made after the Redevelopment, between 1995 and 2015. Some of the grantees subsequently created further interests, by way of assignment or sublease. It is this situation that has resulted in the high-rise buildings in the area surrounding the Speaker’s residence,”* explained the Lands Commission.
Apparently, this clarification was/is in response to Media Relations Department’s 22nd. November, 2023 lamentations to the effect that “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.”
Stay tuned for what the Lands Commission said about “the specific allegation of the Clerk to Parliament’s accommodation being sold in 2019,” in tomorrow’s edition of The New Crusading GUIDE.
