Akufo-Addo government consistent with state capture - NDC communicator

Portions of Achimota Forest returned to Owoo family

The pattern of this government is consistent with state capture, Beatrice Annan

Achimota Forest not for sale, Lands Minister

A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication and legal team, Beatrice Annan has raised concerns over the Akufo-Addo-led government's attempt to capture state

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According to her, even though the New Patriot Party (NPP) believes in the property owing democracy, the meaning does not imply they should grab national resources to the benefit of a few just because they are in power.

She alleged that the NPP has a pattern of grabbing state resources for themselves, from forest reserves to water resources, a move she noted is a dangerous precedent as she urged Ghanaians to speak up.

Speaking on TV3’s Big Issues, she said “…the pattern of this government is consistent with state capture, there is a consistent pattern of governance of recklessness calculated to capture every source from mineral resource to forest reserve to water resources by way of galamsey and everything every citizen of Ghana ought to benefit from and it’s a very dangerous precedent.

“I don’t know if because the NPP believe they are in a property-owning democracy. The meaning of property owing democracy is not to grab for yourself the resources of the nation for the benefit of the few because we have made a mistake and we have given you power. You cannot enrich yourself to the detriment of the citizen.

“The tangent on which this government is going, if Ghanaians do not rise to speak up against this, we will up on day and there will be no nation Ghana and trust me none of our neighbouring countries can accommodate us, so we have to speak up,” she added.

Her comments come after the government revealed some portions of the Achimota Forest in Accra will no longer serve as a forest reserve.

This comes after an Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144 gazetted on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on April 19, 2022, and quoted by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, emerged on social media.

Per the document, effective May 1, 2022, those portions [361 acres], sections of which had been developed and had already been released to the Owoo Family in September 2013, is no longer a forest reserve.

During a press conference on May 17, the minister said the Executive Instrument, E.I. 144, pertained to 361 acres of peripherals of the Achimota forest that the government is returning to its custodial owners, identified as the Owoo family because the land was not being used for its intended purpose, which included the extension of the Achimota School.