The Board of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authori­ty (DVLA) has ac­cused the previous government of un­lawfully selling its former Greater Accra Regional Office land behind the Ghana Police Church, to private individuals, despite the site having been compulsorily acquired for a now-defunct public project.Speaking at a press conference held in Accra on Monday, the Board Chairman of the DVLA, Mr George Spencer Quaye, alleged that the land that was originally taken over by the state for the proposed "Energy City" initia­tive, had been sold off to private developers after the project failed to materialise.He said that the action of the previous government was a breach of trust and undermined the original purpose of the land acquisition."We were relocated from this property for a national project, but as we speak, there is no Energy City here.

Instead, the land has been sold off to private develop­ers.

This is a clear breach of the purpose for which it was taken," Mr Quaye stated.According to him, a portion of the land was currently being used by a Swiss-owned company as a vehicle warehouse, while other parcels were reportedly being sold at market rates of up to $3 million per acre.He contended that under the Ghanaian law, land acquired by the government for a specific public purpose must be reverted to its original owner if that purpose was not fulfilled.Mr Quaye argued that the con­tinued sale and private use of the land contravenes legal and ethical standards.The Chief Executive Officer of the DVLA, Mr Julius Neequaye Kotey, criticised the action of the previous government, describing them as a betrayal of public trust."This land still belongs to DVLA.

If the Energy City project failed, the land should have been returned to us - not sold off," Mr Neequaye said.Mr Kotey further disclosed that the DVLA's current regional office in Haatso-Bohye, where it was relocated following the original land acquisition, was not registered in the agency's name.He added that a land title search revealed that the property legally belongs to a private develop­er called Unique Development Groups and not the government nor DVLA."We are now occupying land that doesn't belong to us and are expected to pay the private owner for using it.