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Member of Parliament for South Dayi constituency, Rockson-Nelson Etse Dafeamekpor, has disclosed details of the demolition of his 8-bedroom apartment during the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
According to him, the building, located on land in Adenta that he had legitimately acquired from the local chiefs, was demolished by officials from the State Housing Company, accompanied by officers who posed as military personnel, claiming the land to be state property.
He made this revelation in response to criticism from the NPP minority caucus regarding the constitutionality of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee set up by President John Mahama.
Addressing a news conference in parliament on Wednesday 15th January, MP for Suame John Darko argued that the ORAL committee's activities amount to harassment and a witch-hunt targeting former appointees who have legitimately acquired properties.
Speaking on Metro TV, Dafeamekpor defended the committee, arguing that its mandate does not overlap with other state agencies and instead provides a civil approach to addressing corruption.
He explained:
They are even fortunate that this president has given an official stamp and constituted a committee of this nature to handle the issues in the manner they are doing. In 2017, I acquired land from chiefs I had done legal work for, and they assigned it to me properly registered.
He further detailed the events surrounding the demolition:
All the resources I could gather were used to put up my eight-bedroom house. One dawn, State Housing officials came with the support of the police and military to raze it down, as well as some of my neighbours’ properties, under the pretext that it was state land.
Dafeamekpor added that he has since been in a legal battle over the demolition:
We've been in court since. They can't prove their case, but they've destroyed my property. At the time, the president hadn’t set up ORAL. They just came in a Gestapo manner with a military vehicle, seven armed military men, and police officers who cordoned off the area before carrying out the operation.
The five-member ORAL team, appointed by President Mahama on 18th December 2024, is tasked with gathering information on suspected corruption cases. The committee is chaired by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu, and includes former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo, retired Commissioner of Police Nathaniel Kofi Boakye, private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, and investigative journalist Raymond Archer.
Watch Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor's video below.