The Lands Commission has rejected knowledge of a rumored sale of the Speaker of Parliament’s official house to a private developer.
The Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, stated yesterday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum at the Alisa Hotel in Accra that his official residence was almost sold to a private developer.
He claimed that the land was given to a private developer without his knowledge.
Though he did not name the private developer or the person who effected the transfer, Mr Bagbin stated that if the Lands Commission had not recognized the building, the land would have been re-registered to the private developers.
“Many of you don’t know that even the residence of the Speaker was almost sold to a private developer.
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Actually, it was given out; it was only when they went to register that the Land’s Commission determined that it was the Speaker’s house.
Luckily, I was inside so it was safe,” he said.
However, in a statement made yesterday in Accra by the Lands Commission’s acting Executive Secretary, Benjamin Arthur, the Commission stated that it was “unaware of any purported sale of the Rt Hon. Speaker of Parliament’s official residence to a private developer.”
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To clarify the situation, the Lands Commission stated that the land in question was purchased in 1920 through a Certificate of Title dated June 7, 1920, for government services.
It went on to say that the estate has been utilized as the official residence of the Speaker of Parliament since 2003.
“By an application dated November 15, 2022, and numbered PS/LS/002/12/22, the Parliamentary Service applied for a Certificate of Allocation to regularise their occupation of the land, which measures approximately 1.66 acres.
“At its 64th Regular Meeting held on December 22, 2022, the Regional Lands Commission approved the application after all statutory processes, including planning and approval from the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, had been duly concluded,” the statement said.
Allocation
It was also said that on February 14, 2023, the Lands Commission presented an allocation offer to the Parliamentary Service.
The Parliamentary Service, it claimed, accepted the offer and, after paying the necessary costs, received a Certificate of Allocation dated April 28, 2023.
“The Commission wishes to reiterate its commitment to the prudent and efficient management of public lands in the national interest, and promote effective land administration that is anchored on the highest standards of integrity, transparency and candour,” the statement went on to say.
