The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has intimated that if government keeps protecting its officials within Lands Commission and National Security on the Bulgarian Embassy demolition case, another demolition would soon occur.
According to Okudzeto Ablakwa, he went public with the demolition scandal to ensure that the complicit public officials who were involved are punished and not protected.
The North Tongu MP indicated that under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, it is the duty of receiving governments to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions. He added that when government keeps failing in its obligations under international law, as it did with the Nigerian High Commission and the Bulgarian Embassy, it puts Ghana’s foreign service staff abroad at great risk and threaten the nation’s collective stability.
Okudzeto Ablakwa averred that the Bulgarian Embassy and Nigerian High Commission demolition scandal makes the citizens more skeptical and nervous.
“If diplomatic enclaves could be razed to the ground with impunity; imagine what is happening to ordinary Ghanaian land owners and imagine what fate will soon befall the Achimota forest.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Provide Embassy demolition report
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Ambassador to Ghana, Yanko Yardonov, has requested government to provide his outfit with the 149-paged report on the demolished embassy.
In a statement, the Ambassador indicated that his office had taken notice of a press release issued on May 16, 2022, by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources referring to what it describes as a glimpse of a 149-page first report of the Sole Inquirer, investigating the Bulgarian Embassy issue but “regrettably, as of yet, the full text of the above-referred report has not been made public in full which is not in line with the stated objective of transparency.”
“Furthermore, Bulgaria draws the attention to the unacceptable fact that the Bulgarian Ambassador accredited to Ghana has never been notified officially for any of the procedures and proceedings related to the preparation of the report of the sole inquirer nor has he been invited to participate in the respective hearings.”
Yanko Yardonov
Yanko Yardonov stated that his country is cautious about the fact that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources accepts the recommendation for the immediate perpetrator of the Embassy’s demolition to be sanctioned and to be made to pay compensation.
“We expect the competent Ghanaian authorities to provide as soon as possible concrete parameters, terms and mechanisms for this compensation to be effectuated.”
Yanko Yardonov
The Ambassador indicated that throughout the years, Bulgaria has always aimed at genuinely maintaining a climate of bilateral friendship, cooperation and engagement with relevant institutions of the host country for reaching acceptable solutions in an amicable way. “In this sense, we consider long overdue the recommendation accepted by the Government to ‘intervene’ for an amicable resolution.”
“However, Bulgaria reiterates its consistent view that solution can be found only when all parties act in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations while taking fully into account the ruling of the Supreme Court of Ghana, which clearly recognizes Bulgaria as the leaseholder and owner of the property until 2033 when the renewable lease expires.”
Yanko Yardonov
Read Also: We Must Deal With Internally Generated Terrorizing Principles- Ransford Gyampo
