Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has taken firm action to halt the sale of Ghanaian properties, including lands in Nigeria.

He revealed that Ghana’s Embassy in Nigeria and a plot of land worth $5.3 million were among the assets at risk. The Nigerian property had already been acquired by a buyer who made an initial payment of $1.3 million.

A similar situation was unfolding in Zambia, where a property was nearly sold, but swift intervention from ministry officials prevented the transaction.

Ablakwa also disclosed that lands near the ministry’s headquarters in Accra, previously sold to a private developer, have now been reclaimed.

Speaking in Parliament before the approval of GHS1.4 billion for the ministry’s budget on March 28, the North Tongu MP assured that measures were being put in place to safeguard state-owned properties from unauthorized sales.

To prevent similar occurrences in the future, he declared a strict “no-sale” policy on public properties.

Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, has expressed concerns over Ghana’s limited diplomatic presence in Latin America, stating that the absence of embassies in many countries within the region hampers the nation’s foreign relations.

He also advocated for an increase in the ministry’s budget, emphasizing that the allocated funds were inadequate to effectively support its operations.

Additionally, Jinapor urged the government to fast-track efforts to establish embassies in Hungary and Mexico, stressing the importance of strengthening Ghana’s diplomatic engagements on the global stage.