The Municipal Chief Executive for the Ashaiman Municipality, Albert Boakye Okyere, has debunked allegations levelled against him by some aggrieved supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that he is selling state properties in the area.
He said the protesters NPP protesters were ill-informed.
The protestors in their demonstration on Monday also accused the MCE of awarding contracts to his friends and cronies, a situation that has left the party divided
The convenor of the group, Thomas Abotibila Adongo said the actions of the MCE could result in NPP losing the next election.
“There is the possibility that NPP is going to win the coming election but with the action and inaction of Mr. Albert Boakye, the party might be at risk of losing. He has been calling people into his office and cursing them with Schnapps and eggs. He also goes around selling public lands. We want him removed from office, the president should do that immediately,” he said.
But the MCE has denied selling public lands saying his office does not have authority over the land.
“Ashaiman is a government acquisition area and for that matter, every land that is here is under the custody of the Tema Development Company. We have not sold any land because it is not ours. We don’t own the land, those who own the land [TDC] are those who have given it out”
Meanwhile, the Head of Protocol and Administrative officer at the Tema Development Company, TDC, Ian Okaikoi, said the land in question was released to a private developer for a project under the government’s 1D1F programme.
“The said piece of land according to TDC Land Use and Purpose was to be used for industrial use and purpose which TDC had a proposal from a group to develop a similar project, that is a business and industrial hub under the 1-district 1-factory so in august 2018 after going through the necessary documentation formalities and vetted, the land was allocated to then. So this allegation that Ashaiman has allocated a land to a private individual is neither here not there. It is a TDC land which falls within our area, we’ve gone through the necessary process and give it out for an initiative which falls under 1D 1F.
