The vice presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) for Election 2008, Dr Abu Sakara, has refuted claims that he benefited from state lands registered as private property by the previous administration. The CPP stalwart was reacting to news making the rounds that he had been allocated a portion of a piece of state land at the Airport Residential Area in Accra. He maintained that he pursued due process in acquiring the land and that reports that he was party to the alleged looters of state property is rather unfortunate. “I applied as any other Ghanaian. I did not state where I wanted the land,” he emphasized. Mr Sakara indicated that all payments he made had been duly receipted and expressed shock at comments by government that the buyers of that patch of land had acquired their property illegally. “It cannot be the case because first of all we didn’t acquire it directly. It was acquired through the Lands Department,” he emphasized. Mr Sakara also indicated that he was allocated the land four years after applying for it, adding, the delay followed persistent allocation and re-allocations of land to him at various sites by the Lands Commission. The reaction of the CPP guru comes amid government’s decision to freeze lands believed to be state-owned, at certain prime locations. He denied being an unspoken crony of the previous administration. It is not known how the case of the frozen lands will be treated by the Mills-led administration but speculations are rife that the state properties could be permanently confiscated. The news also comes amid government’s seizure of state vehicles which were in possession of officials of the previous administration. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com