Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama says he will introduce legislation in Parliament to regulate the sale of public property, a move he says will curb the undervalued disposal of government lands.
Speaking to Ghanaians living in Zambia, Mahama said his administration had uncovered cases where public lands were sold at low prices and quickly resold for massive profits.
“We found people buying government land at GHS150,000 and turning around to sell the same plots for $2 million,” Mahama said. “These are lands in prime areas and yet if you look at the value that they are giving and how much people buy them for and turn around and resell them, it just doesn’t make sense at all.”
Mahama said a committee has been set up to assess the status of public lands in Accra and other regions. He added that transactions involving lands without processed titles had been halted and reclaimed, while owners of already developed properties would be required to pay the true market value.
“I want to bring something to Parliament about divestiture of public property,” Mahama said. “If you want to sell public property, you would need the approval of the representatives of the people. So, any public land processing will not be processed at the Land Commission unless it is ratified in Parliament. This will stop the rampant sale of government assets.”
The proposed legislation is aimed at tightening oversight of state asset sales and strengthening transparency and accountability in the management of public property.
