Chairperson of anti-corruption initiative Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, has asserted the government’s firm commitment to addressing corruption and combating state capture.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu made this declaration during a media engagement at an ORAL-led operation to reclaim state land in Tamale. The land, allegedly seized illegally by private developers, had been walled off to mark an allocation to the Northern Development Authority (NDA).
He clarified that the land in question was allocated by the government to the NDA and was not for sale. “This land is not for sale; it belongs to the government, and the NDA was allocated this facility. Remember, this was where the Constitution Review Committee worked under the previous NDC administration,” he stated.
Mr. Ablakwa revealed that the land, officially designated for NDA, had been unlawfully claimed by an unidentified group of individuals accompanied by someone posing as a Lands Commission official. “This is NDA land. Officials woke up one day to find faceless private developers moving in with their workers and someone claiming to be from the Lands Commission, who then divided the land,” he explained.
Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa vowed that the ORAL team would investigate the matter and prevent further illegal construction. “The point we are making is that the era of state capture is over. We are not going to allow them to take over the land. In our report, we are going to state that this wall must be demolished, and the original allocation must be restored,” he affirmed.
