Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has stated that government has commenced a thorough review and audit of all public lands sold in recent years to ensure due process was followed.
During a visit by the Vice President, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, to the Ministry on Tuesday, January 27, the Minister said the objective of the exercise is to safeguard public property and ensure the state receives value for money.
He stressed that any transaction found to have violated established protocols or left required procedures incomplete would be declared void.
The Minister explained that the review was prompted by growing concerns that some public lands acquired by the state for specific purposes, such as construction and agriculture, had been illegally sold or mismanaged by officials entrusted with their protection.
He warned that officials found culpable would have their names published in national newspapers and sanctioned to serve as a deterrent.
“We have begun the review process. One of the issues we have all heard about is that public lands acquired by government for specific purposes, including agriculture, have been abused by those tasked with protecting them.
“We have constituted a team led by my able Deputy and secured Cabinet approval to address the matter”.
By the time we are done, it will not cross the mind of any government official to take public lands, because we will publish your name in every newspaper.
“All public lands that have been sold are undergoing review to ensure value for money and that proper process audits were conducted.
Those that did not complete the required processes will be automatically cancelled.
We are committed to implementing this fully to give Ghanaians confidence that public lands will be protected,” he said.
Source: myxyzonline.com
