Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, ranking member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee
Ablakwa blows alarm on acquisition of embassy in Norway
Minority submits evidence to back claims about embassy in Norway
Norway Court dismisses suit against Ghana’s embassy acquisition
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a ranking member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has said the ruling by an Oslo District Court on the suit against the efforts by the government of Ghana to purchase acquire an Embassy in Norway is a vindication of his point.
Okudzeto Ablakwa, in 2018, blew an alert on an attempt by the government to buy a property in Norway at a cost of $12.1 million instead his estimation of $3.5million.
A legal action was instituted against the process and after three years, a District Court in Oslo has ruled in favour of the government.
In a Facebook post, Okudzeto Ablakwa said that his protest led to the government pulling out of the deal and buying a facility at a relatively cheaper rate.
He explained that it emerged during the court proceedings that a lawyer who represented Ghana indeed expressed interest in buying the said property.
“As the MP who first blew the lid off the Oslo Chancery scandal, I duly welcome the decision from the Oslo District Court in Norway.
“The judicial outcome is a clear and unambiguous vindication of the NDC Minority’s position which I championed at the time.
“It would be recalled that I led the charge in exposing how a property with address: Sigyns Gate 3 at Frogner in Oslo which had been sold to an unknown buyer in August 2017 for the equivalent of US$3.5million just before Ghana agreed to purchase it in 2018 for the inconceivable sum of NOK 105,180,000.00, equivalent at the time to US$12,218,487.13.
“Norwegian investigative journalists at the Finansavisen newspaper with whom I collaborated were convinced beyond any shred of doubt and in all their publications that the deal was inflated by over US$4million.
“Contrary to initial denials by Ghana’s Foreign Ministry, the Norwegian court has indeed confirmed that the sellers of the property, Messrs Jongsbru AS received an acceptance to their offer from Ghana’s lawyer Mikkel Vislie, from the Law Firm of Selmer. Lawyer Vislie produced emails showing that Ghana’s Charge d’Affaires, Regina Appiah-Sam, communicated Ghana’s interest to him,” parts of his post read.
Read the full statement below