The Government of Ghana has lost about 52% of lands that it acquired from private individuals and families for developmental purposes.
These lands, according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Public Sector Reforms, Thomas Kusi Boafo, has been ‘stolen’ by certain private developers and politicians for private gains.
Speaking on ‘W’asεdiε Ne Sεn?’ on Angel TV, Mr Boafo revealed that government cannot account for those lands because of the lack of proper record keeping by various government agencies.
“…Government has lost about 52% of public lands…they have been stolen by individuals some of whom are big men and well-to-do citizens…,” he revealed on the show.
These individuals, he mentioned further have used the lands for various purposes including farms and estates.
“Some have even used some of the lands for cocoa farms, galamseys, buildings and some chiefs have sold them and pocketed the returns…,” he said.
The CEO of Public Sector Reform further narrated how a private individual once came forward with documents dating back to 1935 that claimed that the campus of a notable polytechnic is his property and hence must be returned to him.
“Unfortunately, government had no documents to defend itself because an employee had set government’s documents on fire and absconded…,” he added.
Mr Kusi Boafo blamed all these happenings on the lack of e-archival system by the government to protect its properties.
This, he said, is part of the reasons for the introduction and boosting of the digitilisation agenda by the Akufo-Addo administration.
“All countries that are doing well have at least 40% of the economies digitised but unfortunately Ghana’s own is only 23%…,” he said furhter.
To this end, Mr Kusi Boafo encouraged Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful to bar the phone numbers of all Ghanaians who are unwilling to link their SIMs with their Ghana cards.
