Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), George Sipa Yankey has offered a contrary explanation over who owns the land on which the organisation’s multi-purpose office complex is to be sited.

Joy News on Monday, November 3, 2014 published the first of a series of reports on the cost of Ghana gas office project, which has ballooned from an initial $7.5million to $44 million, representing 500% increase. 

In the report, Manasseh Azure Awuni reported how the company, which falls under the Energy Ministry bought the land from Frank Buah, the brother of the Energy Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, when it could have bought it directly from the chiefs.

In a reaction, Communications Director of GNGC, Alfred Ogbamey said the company acquired a 54 acre land for the project but claimed that 17 acres of that land happened to have been acquired earlier by Frank Buah.

But speaking on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM Tuesday, November 4, 2014, Mr. Sipa Yankey said the entire land was acquired from Mr. Frank Buah at Ghȼ2,000 per plot.

“The land is owned by Mr. Buah and we bought the land for Ghȼ2,000 a plot,” Mr. Sipa Yankey told sit-in-host of the Show, Francis Abban.

He added further that, Mr. Buah owns several other lands in the area, including the one on which the office complex is to be built.

“If you go to the Nzema area, there are families that own, chiefs who own land and there are entrepreneurs who own land. Most of the land in Nzema and the areas that we are interested in, have been bought by Mr. Buah…

“Buah has been in the business since the 90’s even when his brother [the Energy Minister] had not even come into this country. So linking him to the brother is very disingenuous…That land was chosen because it is very central to all operational centres”. 

Cost of project

The CEO also denied that the cost of the entire project had been inflated maintaining the document in possession of Joy FM was an older one which initially put the cost of the project at $37 million.

According to him, estimate for the construction of the entire six-storey complex currently stands at $34 million and is yet to be approved by the Board of Directors.

“As I speak to you now it’s a proposal…the board has not given any approval to anything and I can’t sign any agreement without approval of the board,” Dr. Yankey stated.