The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has denied claims that it has sold portions of military prime lands including the official residence of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) to a private developer.
Responding to a news publication by the Herald newspaper, titled “CDS & Army Commander’s official residence sold” GAF in a statement said “no military lands have been sold to a private developer by the Armed Forces; as the Institution is only a custodian of the lands it is using and does not have any authority or right to dispose of same”.
The publication by The Herald stated that, “mention has been made of the portions of the official residence of the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) at Roman Ridge in Accra, known as “Number One Roman Ridge” which has been sold out to a yet-to-be-identified private developer.
Also gone out of the military occupancy, The Herald, learnt, is a part of the official residence of the Army Commander known as “Number Two Roman Ridge” also located at Roman Ridge next door to the CDS’s residence.
The terms of the transaction which has left the rank and file of the military grumbling, are not known. They only heard that parts of the lands, have been sold out by some senior officers on the claim that they are too big, hence becoming very difficult to maintain.”
GAF has therefore clarified that reports that some senior officers sold parts of the lands on claims that they are too big to be maintained and need to be developed by a private developer is false adding that lands being occupied by GAF have been developed and such developments were done in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence with the approval of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
“It is worth mentioning that there are plans to redevelop the area in question to increase the number of residential accommodations in line with the expansion programme of GAF. Currently, the area in question has only two (2) residential accommodations. It is envisaged that after the redevelopment, the number of residential accommodations for senior officers will increase to thirteen (13)”, GAF added.
GAF emphasized that the report by the Herald Newspaper is false mentioning that the doors of GAF are still open to the media and the general public, as such, it is expected that the media would verify such information with GAF to avert the dissemination of misleading and inaccurate information that have the propensity of drawing the image of GAF into disrepute.
Below is the statement
