There is no cover-up in investigation into Bulgarian Embassy demolition – Lands Minister

Private developer demolishes Bulgarian Embassy in Ghana

Bulgarian Embassy and private developer engaged in tussle over parcel of land

Government commissions sole inquirer into demolition of Bulgarian Embassy

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has refuted claims that the government intends to cover up and shield individuals responsible for the

Read full articledemolition of the Bulgarian Embassy in Ghana some years ago.

According to the minister, his office has since received a report by the Sole Enquirer commissioned to investigate the demolition for which the report is currently being studied for government’s action in due course.

“The Report of the Sole Enquirer into the Bulgarian Embassy land matter was presented on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. The Report is being studied, as was publicly stated by the Deputy Minister who received the Report, and will be acted upon in due course,” the minister stated in a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb.

On the allegations of government’s attempt to cover up, the minister said “There is no cover-up, and every step in this matter, as in all cases, will continue to be above board, transparent and with enormous integrity. This should not be reduced to cheap politics and usual point scoring!”

His comment comes on the back of claims made by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that government seem bent on shielding an appointee of the president who is complicit in the demolition.

“Why is the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government treating the Sole Inquirer’s Report into the demolishing of the Bulgarian Embassy like a nuclear code?"

“It’s been several weeks after government’s initial 7-day timeline, and yet, all we see is a grand scheme of apparent official coverup and a sleazy agenda to shield the President’s appointee at the NDPC, ‘Demolishing Man’ Dr. Yaw. Adu Ampomah,” Mr Ablakwa said in a post.

The Bulgarian Embassy was demolished some years ago by a private developer, who said he had the right to the land the Embassy was built on because he had acquired it. A claim the embassy refutes.

Despite the opposition of the Embassy, the developer began redeveloping the land which drew the attention of the media.

This led the Deputy Minister in charge of Lands and Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio, to halt all activities on the land until further notice.

The government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources on March 18, 2022, appointed a Sole Inquirer, Justice Kwasi Anto Ofori Atta, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the true ownership of some parcel of land in dispute between the Bulgarian Embassy and a private developer.

Justice Ofori Atta submitted the report on April 26, 2022, but the details of the report have not yet been disclosed.

Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who has been vocal about the implications of the demolition on Ghana’s diplomatic ties, maintains that an appointee of the president is complicit in the act.

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