NDC, NPP ‘connived’ to capture Achimota lands – Martin Amidu alleges

Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu has said both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party connived to capture the Achimota forest land.

According to him, the consummation of the state capture by a bi-partisan political elite of the natural resources for private profit is the only ‘rational reason acreages of land were released to the said owners – the Owoo Family.

In an article by Martin Amidu, he explained that political elite in both the NDC and NPP are involved in these corruption-related offenses from 2006 to date.

According to him, the Owoo family ‘suddenly emerged’ some almost 6 years after the Rawlings government handed over to the New Patriotic Kufuor government, to petition them for a lease of portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve to the famiy.

Mr. Amidu also said that the success of this initial ‘state capture’ resulted in an agreement to release 90 acres to the family and subsequently emboldened the political elite and their ‘Owoo Family collaborators’ to continue with their petition to the 3rd and 4th NDC governments.

“The only rational reason for which Three Hundred and Sixty-One point Five Zero acres(361.50 acres) or One Hundred and Forty-Six point Three Zero hectares (146.30 ha) of the Achimota Forest Reserve lands were purportedly released to a phantom Owoo Family under the Forest (Cessation of Forest Reserve) Instrument, 2022 (E.I 144) and the Forest (Achimota Firewood Plantation Forest Reserve) (Amendment) Instrument, 2022 (E.I. 154) by the Akufo-Addo Government is the consummation of the state capture by a bi-partisan Ghanaian political elite of the natural resources of Ghana for private profit of the political elite and their collaborators.

“This is a transaction disgustingly tainted with suspected commission of corruption and corruption-related offences by the political elite in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Governments from 2006 to date,” the statement read in part.

The former Special Prosecutor also said that the leakage of the Will of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John), was an act of God to expose the political elite’s looting of natural resources for their private profit.

“The emergence of the last Will and testament of the late former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, appointed by the Nana Akufo-Addo NPP Government was simply an act of God to expose to the Ghanaian public the opacity of the way the bi-partisan political elite corruptly loot the nations natural resources for their private profit. I have read the ten (10) page press statement signed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and listened to his argument on radio on 28 May 2022. They reinforce my belief that the Minister did not appreciate what he was doing when he purported to seek executive presidential approval for the transactions and purported to sign Executive Instruments which could only legitimately be signed by the President himself under the law,” he added.