The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of deliberately running down the Saglemi Housing Project as part of a conspiracy to have the grounds to sell it off cheaply to cronies of the New Patriotic Party.
The accusations were made by the Member of Parliament for Nkoranza South, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, during a visit to the site by the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament.
Proposals of the project’s sale were first revealed by the Works and Housing Minister, Francis Asenso-Boakye at a meet-the-press session in Accra on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
He said the government is exhausted and handicapped and can’t make further financial commitments to the housing project, hence the need to sell it to a private developer to facilitate its completion.
The Minority was worried that such an important and affordable project of its kind would be treated the way it has been treated and assured that should the proposed sale go ahead, it will be terminated if the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is voted into power in the 2024 general elections.
“We have never seen any settlement like this anywhere by the Government of Ghana, and so the Minority in Parliament has stated clearly that we won’t allow any private developer to come in [to take over the project] at all.
“Any private developer that will partner with the Government to complete this project, the project will be taken from him when we come into power because it should remain affordable for all.”
“This Government has caused so much financial loss to the State. We are taking shots at what has happened here, and it is clear that they deliberately allowed some level of deterioration, so they can sell it to themselves,” he added.