The allodial owners of the prime Cantonments and Labone lands are demanding an independent audit into the government’s plans to redevelop the area to house senior government officials as well as members of the judiciary.
The strong push for an audit is to assuage fears of land grabbing by government officials as has been witnessed in previous cases, notable amongst them being the Achimota forest issue.
According to the Coalition of La Associations, the redevelopment programme while a laudable policy ought to be carried out as advertised by the government.
The Coalition stated that the call for an independent audit is to ensure that the lands are not handed over to private developers and political apparatchiks.
They also stated that such a forensic probe would put to rest the long-standing land disputes in the area and promote transparency in the redevelopment policy.
Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, Jeffery Tetteh stated “We want government to come clear.”
“And our call now as allodial owners since we gave out the land to government for housing purposes for government officials, we want to get an audit, we want government to come out with an audit of all government facilities, housing facilities, we want an audit so that we’ll know how much government has redeveloped, how much has been given to private hands and if they say it’s not in private hands then together with government we’ll go round and check it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Works and Housing Ministry has been fighting off claims the policy is a land-grabbing move.
The Ministry argues that plans to redevelop Cantonments and Labone into public bungalows and housing units for senior government and civil service officials among others date back to 1998.
Background
Ghana’s constitution under Article 20(5) mandates that lands acquired by the government should serve public interests or the intended purpose.
Additionally, Clause 6 grants previous landowners the first option to reclaim property not used as initially intended.
Back in 1998, the government initiated an urban renewal programme focusing on the redevelopment of government residential properties. The primary goal was to replace old structures with modern homes on existing plots aiming to minimise additional infrastructure costs.
Iconic areas which were mostly previously occupied by senior government officials like Cantonments, Airport, Kanda, Switchback and Ridge were earmarked for transformation, the Accra redevelopment scheme, a significant undertaking gained cabinet approval in 2000 operating as a public-private sector partnership.
This move introduced a novel bidding system to shape the selection process for applicants and developers.
However, during Phase II of the project in 2003 allegations surfaced regarding procedural deviations.
Since then, irrespective of the political party in power accusations have been persistent, suggesting that prime lands were being shared with associates and favorites.
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