Former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has urged the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) team, led by North Tongu lawmaker and Foreign Affairs Minister-designate Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to find out the owners of the state lands in Borteyman, Accra.
He also wants the ORAL team to find out the owners of the Aviation, Lands at Adenta, the lands behind the Military cemetery and also those around the Residency in Tamale.
During a debate on the ministerial nominees in Parliament on Tuesday, February 4, the Bimbilla Member of Parliament said “I commend them for saying they will do ORAL work. I just want you to make sure that the ORAL committee is set up appropriately according to the law and the way you work.
“But I want them to go to Borteyman first and check the lands that was given between 2014 and 2016, who benefited from Borteyman lands.
“The lands that share a boundary with affordable houses that President Kufuor built, state lands, they were given out in 2014, 2015 2016, find out the people who own that land.
“I want you to go to the Aviation Land, that huge land at Madina-Adenta, find out the people who own that land.
“Go to Tamale, behind what we call the residency, where the president sometimes goes and sleeps; they are all state lands, go and find out the owners of those lands. Go to the lands adjacent to the Military cemetery and find out those who own the lands.”
He stressed, “I have the list of state lands that were obtained between 2010 to 2016; I will provide them to the chairman of ORAL.”
Nituwul’s submission was interjected by the Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, who cautioned Members of Parliament against washing their dirty clothes in the public domain.
He says that certain matters are for closed-door discussions, not public.
His comments come immediately Nitiwul demanded from Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to explain the source of the money he uses to rent the Airport Hills apartment.
The source of Mr Ablakwa’s money became a subject during his vetting by the committee.
During a debate on the nominees in the House on Tuesday, February 4, Dominic Nitiwul, a former Defence Minister said: “The people of Ghana are still demanding these answers, it will help [Ablakwa] and help every politician if he is able to let the people of Ghana know where he is getting money to rent that property at Airport Hills.”
But quickly, the chair of the committee who is also a lawmaker for Akatsi South said “As much as we do politics, we need to be very careful not to wash our dirty linens in public.
“We know that some matters are for closed sittings so we should be very careful the way we do some politics regarding certain issues, you are I am very much aware of certain things we do in closed sittings.”
Nonetheless, Mr Abalkwa was approved by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Majority. the Minorty abstained from his approval.
During proceedings, the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin gave detailed reasoning as to why his side opposed the nomination of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He said their stance was based on the failure of the North Tongu MP to submit relevant documents requested by the Committee in respect of his earnings and assets.
“Mr Speaker the nominee has submitted only two out of nine documents requested by the Committee. We believe that he who comes to equity must come with equity.
Ablakwa is on record as pursuing public servants and people in the political class and questioning their sources of income. If you are holding people’s feet to the fire, demanding transparency and accountability, it means that you yourself, when subjected to it, you will oblige,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin added that, “he has been questioning people’s travel, people’s birth certificates. I will not pursue him and frustrate his political progress. As a matter of principle, we are opposed to him for the inconsistency. We the Minority have decided to wash our hands off his approval. Every sin at the Airport Hills, we are not part of the sins that he has committed. All the Airport Hills sins are on you. Carry your own cross. If he repents, we will welcome him ‘Awaawaa atoo’”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s nomination was later approved by the NDC Majority in Parliament.
Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa is known to have used his Parliamentary Oversight crusade to expose what he termed “state capture” by appointees of the Akufo-Addo administration.
President Akufo-Addo himself suffered extensively from Ablakwa’s expose of his presidential travels. The North Tongu MP showed evidence of the huge cost incurred by the former president’s preference for private jets to travel abroad instead of using the presidential jet.
