Dr Archibald Yao Letsa
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has dismissed allegations that the Lands Commission has connived with members of the governing NPP to acquire prime lands belonging to the state within the Ho Municipality.
According to him, neither he nor his children have applied for any of the government’s land in the Ho municipality, hence the public should disregard such claims.
The allegations were raised by the Ho Central Assemblyman, Emmanuel Adzome and the Coalition of Concerned Volta Youth based in Ho. They among other things accused the children of the Volta Regional Minister for being beneficiaries of what they called “the obnoxious share of government plots of land.”
They further accused the Volta NPP Women Organiser, Volta MASLOC manager and Ho Central Constituency Chairman of NPP of being beneficiaries of lands at the Kabore and Regional Model School area in Ho.
They also claimed some of the beneficiaries had already started developing the lands. However, speaking at a forum in Ho last Friday to lay the facts bare as far as government lands in Ho are concerned, the regional minister revealed the claims were untrue and had no basis.
Government Lands not for Private User
He emphatically said, “My Children have not applied for any land. By God’s grace, I don’t have to go and buy government land. There is enough land in Klefe my hometown.”
According to him, he still stands against the allocation of government lands for private use as he did in 2017. That is why he collaborated with the then Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John-Peter Amewu to stop the sale of over 90 plots as processed by the erstwhile administration.
For him, government land should be reserved for public use and not given out to private people, including government officials who can afford to buy lands anywhere else.
That notwithstanding, he commended the youth who were also at the forum, for their enthusiasm to protect state lands. He advised that instead of making wild allegations they should always present their facts and evidence to his office or the Lands Commission Board for redress.
No New Allocations
The Board Chairperson of the Volta Regional Lands Commission, Mama Dzidoase I also stressed that, since 2017 when her board took over, she has not signed any new land leases except for what was inherited in 2017.
In all the leases she had signed till date, none of them had the name of her board members, the Regional Minister or his children nor the other members of the NPP who had been alleged to have been allotted lands.
Background
The Regional Director of the Lands Commission, Jonathan Kwabla explained that the commission in 2015 started an infilling exercise to repackage several plots of fallow lands scattered around the Residency and Kabore School area.
After the exercise, some of the plots were allotted. Key among them was a large tract of land allotted for a hotel right behind the Regional Minister’s Residence which also houses Presidential Villa.
After the intervention of the Regional Minister in 2017, the Ministry of Lands and Natural resource ordered a review. A number of the requests were revoked. Others were at an advanced stage and so revoking them could attract judgement debt.
Such cases were relocated from the Residency area (now dedicated to government institutions) to the Kabore area.
It is this allocation that may have sparked the concerns raised by the Ho Central Assembly man, the youth and some Chiefs in Ho.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)