Afenyo Markin, the leader of the New Patriotic Party minority in Parliament, has been identified as a person of interest in the upcoming state-led investigation into the acquisition of state lands by officials of the previous Akufo-Addo government.
The Chairman of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, delivered the notice to Markins last week while he was being vetted as President John Mahama’s nominee for the Foreign Affairs Ministry before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
Information disclosed by Hon. Ablakwa suggests that the ORAL team possesses documentation related to various questionable state land acquisitions by Afenyo Markin. Notably, one such piece of land was acquired by the Minority Leader from his government in 2023.
The land, located in Winneba within the Effutu Constituency represented by Afenyo Markin in Parliament, was vested in the government of Ghana by LI 206 dated 21st November 1961.
On 22nd March 2023, while serving as Deputy Majority leader under the Akufo-Addo government, Afenyo Markins obtained a 99-year lease on the land for a seemingly nominal fee, in contravention of the legal limitation of 55 years for state land leases.
The controversial land deal was reportedly facilitated by Justice A. Asanguna, a Principal Land Officer at the Lands Commission.
Ablakwa’s revelations shed light on the ways in which former Akufo-Addo government officials allegedly exploited their positions to acquire state lands at discounted rates.
However, in response to the allegations, Afenyo Markin attempted to justify the land purchase by claiming he bought it from traditional authorities despite Winneba lands being under governmental ownership since the Nkrumah administration.
This defense was refuted by the fact that the land remains state property and should have been acquired as a leasehold not exceeding 55 years.
Additionally, beyond his involvement in the state land appropriations, Afenyo Markin is also under scrutiny for allegedly receiving a bribe of over US$900,000 from the Agricultural Development Bank through coercive means.
A leaked tape from 2015 purportedly captured Markin soliciting the bribe to prevent legal action against the bank by his colleague MP, Mark Asibey Yeboah, regarding an unauthorized Initial Public Offering.
It is anticipated that Afenyo Markin will need to address these allegations in the ongoing investigations into his actions.
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