The assets of former Forestry Commission Chief Executive Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, have been blocked by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) while investigations into charges of illegal purchase of state lands continue.
The action affects all assets named in Sir John’s Will and Testament.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) notified the Daily Graphic that the action was made to prevent the late Sir John’s executors and beneficiaries from dissipating his assets before investigations were concluded.
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According to the late Sir John’s will, the OSP is now investigating suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses including the alleged inappropriate and unlawful purchase of state property at the Achimota Forest enclave and the Ramsar catchment at Sakumono in Accra.
Assets located outside of impacted jurisdictions
“Typically, if you don’t freeze those assets, by the time you finish the investigation, the properties you may be investigating may not be there”, the OSP explained.
Other assets, such as international accounts outside the jurisdiction, were also under examination, according to the office, and the OSP was seeking assistance from its foreign counterparts to freeze them.
“We need the assistance of our foreign counterparts to trace those assets and get them frozen as well because Ghanaian laws do not apply in these jurisdictions and, therefore, we need to get mutual legal assistance to do this,” it added.
The petition
Corruption Watch, a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organizations including the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), and the Multimedia platforms Joy FM and Adom FM, petitioned the Special Prosecutor to look into the acquisition of state lands in the Achimota Forest and the Ramsar area in Sakumono by three companies.
Jakaypros Limited, Fasoh Limited, and DML Limited are the corporations, and Charles Owusu and Sir John are the individuals.
The petition was filed in response to public outrage over Sir John’s supposed Last Will and Testament, in which he willed many acres of the Achimota Forest and the Ramsar region to the recipients in forever.
The matter, which has been widely publicized in recent weeks, has many Ghanaians wondering how the late Sir John could have held state properties and willed them to his family members.
The Achimota Forest has been in the headlines recently as a result of the government’s declassification of the peripherals in order to return them to their rightful owners.
Many civil society organizations and people have spoken out against the government’s actions, with some claiming that the moves would jeopardize the forest’s ecological integrity and that the lands would be dispersed among government functionaries, claims that the government has disputed.
Particulars
The petition relates to a 5.541-acre land located in the Achimota Forest held in the name of Jakaypros Limited; 0.987-acre land located in the Achimota Forest held in the name of Fasoh Limited; a piece of land located in the Achimota Forest jointly owned with one Charles Owusu; a piece of land held in the name of DML Limited located in the Achimota Forest, and a 5.07-acre land located at the Ramsar area in Sakumono, near Tema in the Greater Accra Region.
The organization claims Sir John exploited his public position and utilized it dishonestly for his own gain.
The anti-graft organization consequently requests that the Special Prosecutor investigate how Sir John obtained state lands and, if it is determined that they were obtained unlawfully, that they be returned to the state.
The OSP also stated that a number of persons, including officials from the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, as well as beneficiaries and executors of the will, will be requested to participate in the investigations.
SOURCE: GRAPHIC ONLINE
