The office of former President Jerry Rawlings has rebuffed suggestions in social media publications that he intended to illegally appropriate for himself a piece of land at Ridge, Accra.
His office says the former President wrote officially to the immediate past government to request for a piece of land for the establishment of a Rawlings Foundation, which he intended to “dedicate to humanitarian, educational, population control, HIV AIDS, health-related projects, the preservation of nature and the promotion and preservation of cultural values.”
The Lands Commission in Accra subsequently wrote to Rawlings in May 2016, informing him that then President John Mahama had approved the allocation of the land, a 4.368 acre land on the Sekou Toure Street, Ridge Residential Area, a chunk of which already houses his residence and office.
A statement by the Communications Directorate of the office of the former President, signed by Mr. Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, said consequent to this, Rawlings made further suggestions to the government, but a response directing action by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister only reached the minister on December 12, 2016.
The directive came from Ambassador Kwesi Quartey, Secretary to the then President who said he had discovered the letter directing action on the land ‘misplaced among’ his papers and thus wrote to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources to act upon it.
The office of former President Rawlings said “No lease agreement was thus reached with the government”, documents pointing to substantial discussions on the matter notwithstanding.
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