Akufo Addo Sells off Achimota Forest-Accra’s Only Forest Belt – Valued At US$ 467 million

Even Though government officials are attempting to deny it, official documents show that President Akufo Addo has signed off the Achimota forest to potential private investors to put up a concrete forest of churches, luxury apartments hotels and offices.

A leaked Executive Instrument (E.I 144) shows that President Akufo Addo personally dealt the final death blow to the long-threatened Achimota Forest where he signed off the fate of the only major green belt in Accra to allow private developers to decimate it.

This move comes as a particular shock, given the global trend towards climate preservation and Ghana’s recent ratification of the climate treaty.

Information trickling in indicates that the 361.5-acres land has been clandestinely given to a real estate company called Cypher Properties which is putting a price tag on it at US$1.3 million per acre.

This means that the entire land is valued at US$469.95 million. Yet, in 2016, sod was cut for the forest to be made into a US$ 1.2 billion eco-park.

The profile of Cypher Properties is currently unclear, but the initial investigations done by Whatsup News indicate that Cypher Properties is a car dealership.

The eight-paged E.I 144 was gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor.

However, the same Jinapor has taken to social media claiming the forest has not been sold. But as usual, critics have taken the denial with a pinch of salt.

This is the second time the Akufo Addo administration is decimating age-old forest reserves in the country. About five years ago, the government entered into a dubious agreement with China’s Sinohydro Company to slice off a humongous portion of Ghana’s biggest forest reserve-the Atiwa Forest to Chinese miners to mine bauxite in return for a phantom US$2 billion loan the government wanted from the Chinese.

For over five years now, the said Sinohydro loan has failed to materialise.

The Achimota Forest was bought and paid for in 1930 by the colonial government of the then-Gold Coast as Ghana was referred to at the time.

The government bought about 5sq km of land in Achimota to set up a Forest Reserve. In 2016, the then-government of John Dramani Mahama started the transformation of the reserve into an Eco-park.

But, Akufo Addo has ended that vital nerve-centre of Accra to pave way for earth-moving machines to start constructing concrete jungle to replace the forest.