Corruption Watch petitions AG to probe ownership, management of Hohoe, Agogo Sports facilities

Corruption Watch has petitioned the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice to investigate the ownership, control and management of the publicly funded Hohoe Stadium/Astroturf and Agogo Sports and Cultural Complex. The probe must cover private interests registered or asserted over the lands on which the facilities are situated.

The petition follows Corruption Watch’s investigative documentary, “Publicly Funded, Privately Controlled! The Multi-Million-Cedi Astroturf Exposé,” which examined the financing, construction, ownership and management of the two facilities involving more than GH¢17 million in public funds.

At Hohoe, Corruption Watch’s investigation established that the Municipal Assembly contracted Wembley Sports Construction Company Limited to construct the facility with substantial funding from State institutions.

However, the facility was not formally handed over to the Assembly and has instead been under the control and/or management of persons associated with former Hohoe MP and Minister, Mr. John Peter Amewu.

The investigation further found that the land on which the Hohoe facility sits has been registered in the name of Mr. Thomas Amewu, brother of Mr John Peter Amewu. The Hohoe Municipal Assembly has since publicly stated that it considers the facility to be State property and intends to demand its handover.

At Agogo, the Sports and Cultural Complex was fully funded by the Ghana National Gas Company Limited (Ghana Gas) and constructed by Wembley Sports Construction Company Limited.

Mr. Owusu Bempah, then a senior Ghana Gas official, asserted ownership and/or control over the facility and claimed an interest in the underlying land. The facility, which was commissioned in 2022 was being privately run while its ownership was in contention until 2024 when the Asante Akim North Municipal Assembly took custody following a Ghana Gas directive.

Mr. Owusu Bempah, however, continues to asset ownership over the land on which the facility is situated. Corruption Watch considers the land issue as important as the ownership and control of the physical facilities, where millions of cedis of public funds are invested in permanent infrastructure and that there must be certainty about ownership.

As a result, Corruption Watch has asked the Attorney-General to establish the complete legal position regarding the Hohoe and Agogo facilities and their underlying lands and take appropriate action to protect the public interest.

The basis of the petition is that Publicly-funded infrastructure should not, without lawful authority and transparent arrangements, migrate into private ownership or control.

Corruption Watch has, therefore, recommended that the Attorney-General urgently reviews all relevant contracts, payment and completion records, Assembly reports, correspondence, land records and other documentation relating to the financing, construction, ownership and management of the Hohoe Stadium/Astroturf and Agogo Sports and Cultural Complex.

It also wants the AG to determine the lawful ownership and custody of both facilities, the legal basis for their control or management outside the respective Municipal Assemblies, and whether any contractor or other person breached contractual or legal obligations concerning their completion, handover or management.

The AG is requested to, in conjunction with the Lands Commission and other relevant institutions, investigate the chain of title and circumstances surrounding the registration, acquisition or assertion of private interests in the lands underlying both facilities.

The anti-corruption campaigner, called on the Minister for Justice to also establish what land-title due diligence was undertaken before public funds were committed to the projects, what representations concerning ownership of the lands were made to the Assemblies and funding institutions, and what legal safeguards exist to protect the public investments.

It hopes that where the evidence warrants, the AG takes all necessary legal steps to secure the handover and lawful public control of both facilities and to protect, preserve or recover any interest of the State or the respective Assemblies in the underlying lands, including appropriate civil or preservatory proceedings where necessary.

The petitioner also seeks the establishment of whether revenues have been generated from either facility while outside the control of the respective Assemblies, by whom such revenues were collected, and whether any amounts should be accounted for and recovered for the benefit of the Assemblies or the State.

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