The Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is demanding a full-scale inquiry into the circumstances that led to the demolition of a facility on the premises of the Bulgarian Embassy in Accra.
According to him, the diplomatic embarrassment must not be countenanced, and there is the need to unravel the facts behind the demolition.
Speaking to the media after a tour of the site, Okudzeto Ablakwa accused a certain Dr. Ampomah of the National Development Planning Commission, NDPC as the person allegedly responsible for the act.
“An inquiry should be done into this matter. Eyewitness confirms that the demolition happened, stating clearly that this Dr. Yaw Adu Ampomah using his strong connections in this was able to marshal elements and forces in the state and used it to his advantage.”
“I would be interested in the complicity that has brought this colossal shame upon us as a country. A keen inquiry into the case, involving this self-acclaimed titled man and his accomplices, should be pulled up and punished. We must insist that they pay the course of compensation.”
He said, although a Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs was there to stop the demolition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not do enough to prevent it from the onset, and has serious questions to answer.
“Yes, I heard the Minister was here, and I know he was here to stop the ongoing construction, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not done enough to prevent this in the first place. I am not impressed with how they have responded to this issue. They were given adequate intelligence that this would happen. If you have spoken with the Bulgarians, they were threatened, the people were forcing them out, and they relayed their ordeal to the Foreign Ministry. How is it that the Ministry appeared helpless all this while?”he asked.
He further bemoaned that the security in this country is shaken and the National Security apparatus of the country must answer questions as these acts are not representing the hospitality the country is known for.
“We don’t feel safe in this country, and diplomats don’t feel safe, particularly as this came in right after the Nigerian incident. They don’t care about our international image and the ties that we have with other countries.”
The Bulgarians have a lease that expires in 2033 renewable as confirmed by the Lands Commission.
He says the Bulgarian is really upset and is questioning Ghana’s respect for the law if notices from the Lands Commission are being overlooked.
He concluded by saying, “This time we wouldn’t allow the taxpayers to bear the cost of compensations, and reconstruction as it happened during the Nigerian demolition, the perpetrators must be made to bear the full cost.”