‘Lawless, provocative, mafia-style’ raze of Bulgarian Embassy blot on Ghana’s diplomatic credentials’ – Ablakwa HEADLINES

Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed anger that the Bulgarian Embassy in Accra at 10 Kakramadu Road, East Cantonments, has been completely razed in a “lawless, provocative and mafia-style operation”.

According to Mr Ablakwa, information available to him indicates that “armed rogue elements with extra fortification from deviant land guards and errant personnel allegedly from the Cantonments Police Station had the sheer effrontery in broad daylight, to evict Bulgarian Embassy staff, throw out inviolable assets belonging to the Bulgarians and assault the Honorary Consul, Mr Nicolaas C.M. van Staalduinen in his effort to restrain them.”

He noted that valuables including generators, computers, printers, refrigerators, archival documents which represent a treasure trove of deep historical bonds and a stash of vital diplomatic exchanges were not spared by the marauding encroachers.

Mr Ablakwa said the encroachers returned at dawn to demolish the entire Embassy and are now building their own structure with the speed of light, at day and night, to conclude their mission.

The lawmaker, in a statement on Facebook, said this “aggressively mindless attack” is usually considered a declaration of war.

He observed that without a scintilla of doubt, Ghana’s conduct amounts to a grotesque violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961.

He noted that the NDC Caucus in Parliament shall be demanding a full public parliamentary probe into the demolished building with the view to identifying all the conspirators and bringing them to justice.

“We shall not allow the shadowy characters behind this hideous act to enjoy the comfort and security of anonymity; we shall smoke them and their collaborators out, and ensure that never again would a few greedy bandits damage our hitherto high diplomatic reputation,” he stated.

Find below the full statement:

DEMOLISHING OF BULGARIAN EMBASSY IN ACCRA IS A BLOT ON GHANA’S DIPLOMATIC CREDENTIALS – NDC CAUCUS IN PARLIAMENT DEMANDS A FULL PARLIAMENTARY PROBE

The alarming culture of impunity which has become unrivalled in its audaciousness must not be allowed to fester.

First, it was a brazen demolition of a Nigerian diplomatic property which predictably strained our bilateral relations with our West African neighbour, triggering a war of words and bringing us to the brink of conflict. Following a de-escalation, the Ghanaian taxpayer, unbeknownst to many, is now spending millions of Cedis to restore the Nigerian diplomatic facility as adequate compensation.

Now, in an even more shocking, exceedingly lawless, provocative and mafia-style operation — the Bulgarian Embassy in Accra at 10 Kakramadu Road, East Cantonments has been completely razed to the ground.

According to eyewitnesses, the armed rogue elements with extra fortification from deviant land guards and errant personnel allegedly from the Cantonments Police Station had the sheer effrontery in broad daylight to evict Bulgarian Embassy staff, throw out inviolable assets belonging to the Bulgarians and assault the Honorary Consul, Mr Nicolaas C.M. van Staalduinen in his effort to restrain them. Valuables including generators, computers, printers, refrigerators, archival documents which represent a treasure trove of deep historical bonds and a stash of vital diplomatic exchanges were not spared by the marauding encroachers.

They subsequently returned at dawn to demolish the entire Embassy.

The perpetrators are now building their own structure with the speed of light, at day and night, to conclude their nefarious mission.

This aggressively mindless attack is usually considered a declaration of war.

Without a scintilla of doubt, Ghana’s conduct amounts to a grotesque violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961.

Article 22 of the Convention provides:

1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.

2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.

3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.

Credible and verified information point to the fact that all these grave violations have been possible because of a “powerful man” behind the invasion, demolishing, construction and purported takeover. I shall have him exposed in due course, save to add that those who consider themselves strategic allies of the Akufo-Addo presidency must reflect deeply on how their conduct will impact on the long term legacy of their most-favoured government.

Documents I have reviewed and some of which I would attach to this publication reveal how helpless the Foreign Ministry and the Lands Commission appear to be in this matter even after they have confirmed with incontrovertible evidence that the Bulgarians have a valid lease for a term of 50 years since 1983.

As a Ghanaian and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, it is terribly embarrassing to hear comments about this despicable scandal in diplomatic corridors and how another blatant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 with such reckless brute force is casting a slur on our hard-won image in the comity of nations.

The NDC caucus in Parliament and the vast majority of law-abiding Ghanaians would certainly not accept this detestable misconduct neither are we going to allow the criminal masterminds to get away with this.

I shall like to commend the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor for promising to take positive steps to halt the construction at the Bulgarian Embassy premises when I brought this to his attention yesterday.

May I add, though, that the unresponsiveness of Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to numerous queries from the Bulgarians, particularly after the Bulgarian government sent a delegation led by Ambassador Yanko Yordanov to Ghana last month, have been most unhelpful in easing tensions.

That notwithstanding, the NDC Caucus in Parliament shall be demanding a full public parliamentary probe into these bizarre circumstances with the view to identifying all the conspirators and bringing them to justice.

We shall not allow the shadowy characters behind this hideous act to enjoy the comfort and security of anonymity; we shall smoke them and their collaborators out, and ensure that never again would a few greedy bandits damage our hitherto high diplomatic reputation.

While applauding the Bulgarians for their exceptional patience since coming under their first bulldozer attack at 3 am on 26th April 2017; it must be emphasized that a friendly country such as Bulgaria which shares rich historical ties with Ghana from the Nkrumah era, and has only recently announced a generous scholarship package for our student evacuees from Ukraine does not deserve to be subjected to crass lawlessness from a few corrupt nepotistic brigands determined to tarnish Ghana’s good name.