President Mahama blocks all ongoing sale of state lands; demands report in 14 days

President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Lands Commission to immediately halt all ongoing leases or sales of state and public lands.

The directive, conveyed in a letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Benjamin Arthur, was dated Friday, 10 January 2025.

The letter stated that the directive is part of the President’s efforts to safeguard state lands for the benefit of Ghanaian citizens and future generations.

As such, all ongoing and pending transactions must be halted without delay to facilitate a comprehensive review of the current framework governing the management of such lands.

The presidency further instructed Benjamin Arthur to submit a comprehensive report on all transactions involving state lands within 14 days.

You are further requested to submit a detailed report of all recent and ongoing transactions concerning State and Public Lands to this office within fourteen (14) days of this communication.

In a related development, Member of Parliament for North Tongu and Chairman of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, disclosed that the team successfully blocked an attempted encroachment on state land by a private developer.

In a social media post on Saturday, 11 January, Ablakwa revealed that the team acted on a distress call from staff of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Gender, Children, and Social Protection regarding an attempted demolition of their bungalow located behind the State House, Accra.

According to the lawmaker, the developer who had sent thugs to the location claimed to have purchased the land last year.

Ablakwa further confirmed that the land capture attempt was successfully prevented by the President's National Security Committee.

Read his Facebook post below.