The Lands and Natural Resources Committee of Parliament is asking the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to disclose the full agreement it entered into with private land reclamation firm, Aynok Holding Limited.

According to the committee, a full disclosure will address the many inconsistencies it has identified with the contract.

This follows an accusation by Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini that the government was engaging the services of land guards in the retrieving and protection of government lands.

He made the allegation based on statements allegedly made by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Professor Patrick Agbesinyale.

However, during a meeting with the Committee, the Chief Director denied the allegation insisting that it was not true.

“Mr Chairman, I take exception to that reportage, it's absolutely not true, we don’t use landguards and we use the official security forces to regulate government land if need be,” he said.

When asked why there were reports that he said the government uses landguards, he clarified that he mentioned that the government in 2012 had contacted a company, Aynok Holding to help in reclaiming lands.
He stressed that “ I can’t imagine me saying that government uses landgaurds to reclaim lands, that can not be.”

Touching on this, Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini said there has been a number of inconsistencies from the ministry with regards to the contract.
He explained that although the Chief Director said that the Aynok contract began in 2012, the company was officially registered in 2014.

“The Ministry issued a statement signed by the same Chief Director and made the claim that they have a contract with Aynok Holding Limited, if you check at the Registrar Generals Department, Gyato is actually a Director of Aynok Holding and they have a contract with Aynok Holding Limited and that contract has been in existence since 2012.

“A check at the Registrar Generals Department shows that Aynok Holding was registered on 1st September 2014,” he said on the AM show.

According to him, this inconsistency could only be resolved if the full detail of the contract is made public.