Explosive! How Akufo-Addo, late Sir John captured Achimota Forest Lands

Emerging revelations from the Will of late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) show that prime lands of the Achimota Forest have indeed been shared among the top hierarchy of the Akufo-Addo administration in the guise of releasing the said lands to a phantom Owoo Family.

This is contrary to claims by government spokespersons that the Achimota Forest has not been captured by the regime amigos of President Akufo-Addo.

A leaked portion of a document believed to be the Will of Sir John, who was the head of the Forestry Commission before he was killed by COVID-19, shows that he had used his position to allot significant portions of the only forest belt in the capital city to his nephews and nieces.

The leaked Will which has the stamp indicating it is a certified copy from the Registrar of the High Court in Accra shows that

From the Will, it appears Sir John owns over 5 acres of the Achimota Forest. He personally owns 0.987 acres which in his Will, he wants to be released to his nephew Michael Owusu.

He also owns an undisclosed portion of the forest with a company called DML Limited, which he wants to be allotted to another relative called Elizabeth Asare Boateng. Another portion is to be released to one Ruth Korkor Odonko, another relative.

Even though Whatsup News is unable to verify the exact size of the land stolen by Sir John from the state-owned Achimota forest, there are speculations that his entire land consignment totals over five (5) acres.

It is believed that several other top guns within the governing NPP have allotted sizeable portions of the land to themselves, including unconfirmed speculations that President Akufo-Addo himself may have cut a juicy slice for keeps.

This is even more poignant as a former Presidential Staffer in the erstwhile Mahama government, Prince Derek Adjei reveals that President Akufo-Addo was the lawyer of the Owoo family to which he recently signed an Executive Instrument (E.I 144) declassifying portions of the Achimota Forest as a forest reserve allowed the said Owoo family to claim that portion for themselves.

“Akufo Addo was Owoo family lawyer,” he reveals.

The controversial E. I 144 will see some 361 acres go to the Owoo family.

The former head of the Free Zones Board, Mr. Kojo Twum Boafo, has also revealed that the said Owoo family has long been settled on their claim to portions of the Achimota forest and that the 361 acres being released by E.I 144 was simply a new ploy by the Akufo-Addo administration’s regime cronies to steal Accra’s only forest belt and convert it to a concrete forest.

According to John Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in a statement released on May 17, 2022, seeking to dismiss widespread public anger that Akufo Addo’s E.I 144 will lead to the sale of a substantial portion of the Achimota Forest, explaining that the then colonial administration of the British had bought the land converted to the Achimota Forest in 1930.

But, in 2007, the said Owoo family submitted a petition to the then administration of John Agyekum Kufour asking for portions of the land to be leased back to them. The Kufour administration reportedly agreed to the request on November 24, 2008.

However, for an unknown reason, the lease agreement was not executed, leading the Owoo Family to again present a petition to the then-John Evans Atta Mills administration in 2011, where a committee led by the CEO of the Forestry Commission at the time, Samuel Afari Dartey reportedly agreed that the request of the Owoo family was legitimate.

According to Jinapor, the Administration of John Dramani Mahama IN September 2013, granted the request for portions of the land to be released to the said Owoo family.

However, Prince Derek Agyei disputes the claim that the Owoo family had a claim over the land.

“It is emerging from records available at the National Archives that the Achimota Forest Lands belong to La and Osu. It has also emerged that there is no Owoo family of Osu as captured in Press Akufo-Addo’s controversial Executive Instrument EI 144 recently put out by his Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor,” Derek Agyei wrote.

Critics are fingering President Akufo-Addo and the Jubilee House to be potentially cooking up the stories around the E.I 144 to allow state capture of the Achimota Forest by “family and friends” of the government as revealed in Sir John’s Will.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, feigning ignorance of Sir John’s explosive Will has issued a statement claiming it is investigating the content that suggests a conflict of interest by the late Forestry Commission boss.

Source: whatsupnewsghana.com