I have always maintained that public officials should stay away from buying state properties – Ablakwa

North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said that his position has always been that public officials, whether from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, the New Patriotic Party(NPP), or any other administration, should stay away from purchasing state properties.

He says 16 years ago he first took on the former National Chairman of the NPP, the late Jake Obestebi Lamptey for acquiring state properties and he has consistently rejected any official doing the same.

Ablakwa said this while replying to the Agric Minister Bryan Acheampong that he does not need any of his properties. Ablakwa says he does not perform his oversight role for personal gains or gifts.

“I don’t need any of those things, I am not doing what I am doing for personal gains and gifts…I have always maintained that public officials should stay away from public properties,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, June 22.

His comments come after Bryan Acheampong had openly dared him to substantiate claims regarding Rock City Hotel’s financial status. He went ahead to say that if Ablakwa is able to substantiate the claims he would gift him his properties in East Legon and some of hotels.

This followed allegations by Ablakwa that documents intercepted from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicate that Rock City Hotel Limited, a company owned by the Agric Minister and MP for Abetifi, is running at a loss and hence unfit to buy the lucrative and profit-making SSNIT hotels.

Acheampong categorically denied these assertions, dismissing them as baseless and without merit. “I heard Okudzeto making allegations of intercepting some documents from GRA but he has no such documents, there is nothing true in that statement, they are all lies,” Acheampong told host of Yen Nsempa, Nana Yaa Brefo on June 19.

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The Minister further elaborated, stating that according to information he received from the hotel’s management, Rock City Hotel has yet to file its taxes for the year 2023 and for that reason not even GRA knows the financial status of the company to say it is operating at a loss.

“Managers of Rock City have reported to me that they haven’t filed their 2023 taxes; they will be filed by the end of June. So, they haven’t been filed yet. Where did Okudzeto get the supposed documents, he’s talking about from GRA, because the Managers of Rock City haven’t filed them yet, where did he get the said documents from?” Acheampong questioned