The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has explained that his assertion that his official residence was almost sold to the private sector has been misconstrued.

Reacting to the claim, the Lands Commission, which the Speaker said had pointed out the anomaly when the supposed buyer attempted to register it, rather says the Speaker's residence has never been sold.

At the Speaker's Breakfast Forum at Alisa Hotel in Accra on November 20, Mr Bagbin revealed that the property was given to a private developer who had attempted to register it.

Although he did not disclose the identity of the private developer or the party involved in the transfer, he mentioned that it was at the Lands Commission that the status of the property came to light.

"Many of you don’t know that even the residence of the speaker was almost sold to the private sector. Actually, it was given out, and it was when they went to register that the Lands Commission identified that it was the residence of the speaker. Luckily, I was inside, so it was safe," Bagbin stated.

Read also: Speaker’s residence was not sold to a private developer – Lands Commission clarifies

In response, the Lands Commission issued a statement denying that the property was ever sold to a private developer, emphasizing that, "at no point in time was the said property sold to a private developer by the Lands Commission."

However, in a subsequent meeting with civil society groups, the Speaker clarified his earlier comments.

He explained, "I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to the Lands Commission that they realized from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker," he said.