The Jake Bungalow Mischief is in the Policy - Dowokpor

A member of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) William Dowokpor has called for an immediate end to the policy of selling state lands to individuals and public office holders, describing it as a blank cheque, which some politicians and their friends have cashed in on the blind side of the public for many years.

He said the Redevelopment of state lands policy introduced towards the end of the NDC One (1) administration in 1999, which was continued by the NPP government between 2001 to 2008; but has reached crisis point in the current NDC (Two) administration, was not only ill conceived but has been so poorly implemented that the only way to save the situation is to revoke any legal instrument that gives the lands Commission in particular, authority to offer state lands for sale to the public, the exercise of which has so far, proved retrogressive.

William Dowokpor, who is also the PPP parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency is therefore calling for the current policy to be replaced with one that would be at the centre of the country’s efforts at reducing the housing stock deficit to the barest minimum within a decade.

To that end, William Dowokpor proposed the establishment of District, Metropolitan and Municipal high-rise Housing Schemes to be developed on “wasted” or unused state lands for the benefit of active civil and public servants, teachers, public sector health workers and personnel of the security agencies to ease the housing pressures on the state.

The PPP candidate made the proposal in an exclusive interview with Radio Universe, the University of Ghana’s Community radio station on Tuesday, while sharing his views on the government decision to discontinue the sale of a state bungalow to Chairman of the NPP Mr. Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, in response to a Supreme court ruling that the NPP chairman had done no wrong in the process of acquiring the said property.

William Dowokpor, who did not wish to discuss neither the legality nor morality dimensions of the “Jake Bungalow” saga, insisted that “I want to focus on the bigger issue which is about policy that was not properly thought through at the formulation stage, left to civil servants to implement without bounds or direction; a kind of blank cheque gleefully cashed in by high profile politicians and their friends. That is where the mischief lies and that is what we must stop with immediate effect” he said.

The PPP candidate contended that the existence of such a policy, in a developing country that is struggling to overcome the challenges of its weak institutions, that have often been found wanting, when it comes to policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation; was unfortunate and a clear indication that Ghana had a long way to go in attaining good political governance, the prerequisite for good economic management and evident sustainable socio-economic development in the interest of the people.