Government Allegedly Facilitating Money Laundering: Land Looting is a Fiscal Policy

When people are broke they sell assets;

Ghana’s Government unconstitutionally sold Prime State Lands in the early 2000s to shore up liquidity and according to then Finance Minister to balance the budget.

Zoomlion and hundreds of other companies, high profile personalities and organisations became instant millionaires created, some out of paupers with Prime La Stool Lands which were fraudulently allocated by criminally-minded officials of the Lands Commission.

Dubious Land Transactions are rife in Ghana and have become a routine for money launderers including corrupt public officials, Galamseyers and crooked businessmen to launder their ill-gotten wealth and to hide proceeds of corruption.

NOTE

The Constitution allows the State through the President to Compulsorily acquire Lands anywhere in Ghana for a particular stated public purpose for a specified period and pay appropriate compensation to the Original Land Owners; which land must revert to the pre-acquisition owners if the State no longer needs the land for the purpose for which it was acquired or lapse of the period of lease.

The La Trade Fair Acquisition which compensation has still not been paid, served the State well till it deteriorated, the lease lapsed and eventually was demolished…

Ghana should have paid the outstanding Compensation or converted it to EQUITY and renegotiated the acquisition upon the expiration of the lease rather than illegally altering the Executive Instrument used for the acquisition and unilaterally extending the lease by 99years with the connivance of criminally-minded officials of the Lands Commission.

Indeed Ghana could have harnessed the true value of hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA] Secretariat and making the Trade Fair Centre the hub of the continents trade valued at over $3Trillion annually between the 54 African countries and its over 1billion people.

Ghana could have leveraged the AfCFTA being hosted at the La Trade Fair Centre by the Redevelopment Project, which was to create on the about 140acre land among others, an international Convention Centre, Hotels and other ancillary facilities as per the 2016 International Competitive Tender supervised by PriceWaterHouseCoopers and won by a wholly Ghanaian owned company – REROY GROUP.

Ghana would have seen prosperity not bankruptcy if the Tradefair Redevelopment Project had been followed through rather than being grabbed by greedy persons under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government.

Upon assumption of office in 2017, President Akufo-Addo through his cousin and Executive Secretary allowed his other cousin the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to appoint close friends of their other cousin; namely Dr. Agnes Adu as CEO of the Ghana Trade Fair Company and McDan as Board Chairman respectively.

The Parliamentary Vetting of the Finance Minister and the Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen clearly showed how Ghana’s biggest opportunity was lost because of turf war and lack of oversight responsibility for the Ghana Trade Fair Company resulting in malfeasance, Landgrabbing and acts of criminality documented in signed Board Minutes available to Parliament even as both ministers committed perjury…

Instead of the President, after the enquiry by his Cabinet Subcommittee he tasked to ascertain the status of the Trade Fair Redevelopment Project and ensure that legal and constitutional action was taken to put the Trade Fair Redevelopment project on track;

President Akufo-Addo allowed greed to guide the process of implementing the Trade Fair Redevelopment Project.

Sir David Adjaye was sole sourced to takeover the Trade Fair Redevelopment project design and construction despite not being licensed to work in Ghana as an architect.

President Akufo-Addo, despite his own law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co formally writing to warn his government of potential Judgement Debt resulting from their handling of the Redevelopment Project;

President Akufo-Addo personally led a delegation to Dubai to sign a $1billion deal with a Singaporean Company [Stellar Holding Limited] which was sole sourced to undertake Redevelopment of 65acres of the Trade Fair land leaving 75acres of the land, part of which had been illegally leased to COCOBOD.

The signed Board Minutes of the Trade Fair in the custody of Parliament, confirms the architect and CEO meeting with the COCOBOD CEO to illegally allocate 50acres of the Trade Fair land and also illegally dealing with crony companies with unsolicited bids.

The reality is that State acquisition of Land has become a tool for wealth creation among the ruling class for their families, friends and business associates.

The reluctance of State investigative agencies to conduct investigations and make public the findings where investigations are conducted, is because the truth indicts persons connected to officialdom at the highest levels.

CLASSIC CASE: Cantonments Civil Aviation Landgrab

The Cantonments Civil Aviation Land Looting started during the era of President Kufuor under the guise of buildings Ghana@50 accommodation for visiting Heads of States only for them to illegally allocate the AU Mansions and the lands to private persons.

Hundreds of high profile personalities and organisations were fraudulently allocated State Lands and Bungalows under President Kufuor between 2004 and 2008; the list is contained in the Article 146 Petition for the removal of Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo that President Akufo-Addo refused to act on for two years until she retired on her 70th birthday.

The Looting of State Lands and Bungalows acquired for the Civil Aviation Authority continued under President Akufo-Addo, with the attempt to take over the remaining 60acres of land through a dubious MoU signed by then Lands Minister Kweku Asoma-Cheremeh instead of returning the land to the Original Land Owners.

The Kweku Asoma-Cheremeh attempt to takeover the Cantonments Civil Aviation land was stopped by the agitations of the Civil Aviation Authority workers and some citizens of La.

Samuel Abu Jinapor, when he took over from Kweku Asoma-Cheremeh promised to investigate, but till date HE HAS REFUSED TO MAKE PUBLIC THE REPORT giving credence toallegations that some persons close to the President are beneficiaries of that Land Loot.

The Ghana Police Service after conducting investigations into the theft of the Cantonments Civil Aviation Land by unknown persons, without making public any official report claimed that the First Lady – Mrs. Rebecca Akufo Addo who was one of the accused, is not a beneficiary of the Cantonments Civil Aviation Land Loot but did not name the faceless persons developing the State Lands which are currently being sold by the thieves with Samuel Abu Jinapor looking on sheepishly.

GHANAIANS ARE NOT FOOLS;

If the State cannot or will not prevent the theft and sale of State property, it only means one thing.

COMPLICITY AT THE VERY TOP.

Indeed the Adenta Civil Aviation Lands were granted to Clemence Gyato and has allegedly given portions to some government officials including the Agriculture Minister through his company…

The Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission confirmed that the Ministry of Lands has signed an illegal agreement with the notorious Landguard Clemence Gyato and his vigilante Anyok Holdings group to reclaim encroached State Lands and be paid with portions of the State Lands which is shared with some government officials.

Below are some other key leads for the Special Prosecutor and other State investigative agencies to pursue;

The Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor stated categorically on the Metro television Good Morning Ghana programme hosted by Dr. Randy Abbey that,

“…all sorts of persons who are revered in our society drive around on weekends looking for State Lands and Bungalows with little or no activity then come to my office to pressure me to allocate these prime lands to them.”

After the Lands Minister and the President public pledged to ban allocation of these land which was carried in both the DailyGraphic and Ghanaian Times Newspapers;

52acres of Prime Airport Hills Lands were fraudulently allocated to a private person for approximately 2% of the price the real estate developer sells such Lands;

meaning 51acres of the expensive Prime Airport Hills Lands worth $51million were allocated for Free to a private person by Government of Ghana at the expense of the La Stool…

Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo paid GHc7000 for prime Cantonments State Land worth millions.

The former Chief Justice together with hundreds of other beneficiaries are still enjoying what was described by two Lands Ministers Inussah Fuseini [NDC] and Peter Amewu [NPP] described as “Kelewele and Toffee” fraudulent sweetheart deals that must be reversed.

The fraudulently allocated lands must be retrieved by the State or returned to the La Stool through the La Mantse as was recently done through E.I. 432 where 409acres of Ashanti Region Lands were returned to the Golden Stool through the Asantehene.

Zoomlion was one of the hundreds of other companies, personalities and organisations that were transformed from bankruptcy to instant millionaires, the CEO was literally rescued out of pauper status with La Stool Lands fraudulently allocated by criminally-minded officials of the Lands Commission.

According to Kennedy Agyepong, he was a victim of Stephen Ntim’s stealing and selling of State Lands when he was the head of the Lands Commission in respect of various lands includingCivilAviationand CSIR lands.

The GBC Workers Association reported Ken Ofori-Atta to the National Media Commission accusing him of taking over GRA land in the Prime Airport area and attempting to swap with GBC Land near the Jubilee House.

The National Media Commission and the Management of GBC have failed to follow up and retrieve these lands from those they were fraudulently allocated to.

The Ghana Armed Forces have been used to illegally annexlarge tracts of La Lands despite several Petitions from the La Mantse and the agitations by the La People.

These agitations had often resulted in assault and shooting by the Military as happened at Kpletso on 15th April, 2021.

President Akufo-Addo and the Military High Command till date have been indifferent to the deaths and injuries recorded as a result of the Military brutalities at Kpletso near Burma Camp.

The relocation of the Base Ordinance Depot to Kplesto which has not been properly acquired by the State, apparently was to make the original location of the Base Ordinance Depot and other adjoining prime lands to be given to private developers to undertake the New Accra City Project which is a replica of the Aiport City Project to was to benefit some private persons at the expense of the Original Land Owners in perpetuity.

The phenomenon of unconstitutional allocations of State Lands and Bungalows usually to high profile personalities connected to the President, Lands Ministers and the Lands Commission in breach of trust law and the Constitution of Ghana has been used to deprive the La Stool and its people of their prime lands including generations of Lamei yet unborn…

This was made worse by the Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III vs Attorney General judgement, which opened the floodgates for the Land Looting phenomenon by equating “Public Purpose” and “Public Interest” in their interpretation of Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, considered ny many as a travesty of justice that requires urgent review.

REALITY:

Government is having great difficulty in finding lands for developmental projects like the Agenda 111 projects and Schools because land owners no longer trust government to use the Lands for the public purpose the use for the acquisition.

Most land owners across the country are weary of government acquiring their lands for one purpose and turning around to allocate these lands to private persons for a totally different purpose citing public interest and the judgement of the Supreme Court in the Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III vs Attorney General.

Ghanaians are resolved to be Citizens and not Spectators.

GHANAIANS DEMAND JUSTICE not in name but indeed, not just done but seen to be manifestly done as in the International Students Hostel Land Looting by a Chief Justice and several high profile legal personalities e.g. KT Hammond, Atta-Kyea…

🎼 AriseGhana Youth for your country.

Ghana was founded on FREEDOM & JUSTICE and Ghanaians must demand same to keep Ghana from collapse.

Ghanaians are one People with a common destiny.

ACT 1036 demands Transparency and Accountability in all Land Transactions and prescribes harsh sanctions including prison sentences and hefty fines for all offenders including Chiefs, Thieves and Government officials…

The Special Prosecutor and Government cannot continue to pretend to be fighting Galamsey, Corruption and Money Laundering when they are not serious about fighting the obvious;

Land Looting is a major conduit through which the proceeds of Corruption, Galamsey and Criminal businesses are laundered.

God Save Our Homeland Ghana and help us survive the WASTED YEARS OF THE AKUFO-ADDO-BAWUMIA GOVERNMENT and their DumbDogs who can’t speak truth to power because they are compromised or complicit or corrupt.

#StopLandLooters

Government Must Return La Lands To La Stool Through Next La Mantse.

By Prince-Derek Adjei