Ghana Lands Commission — government institution managing land administration and public lands protection, recently involved in petroleum hub gazetting and Greater Accra Public Lands Protection Taskforce.
… In January 2025, President Mahama directed the Lands Commission to halt the sale, lease and processing of transactions involving state and public lands. …
… It also alleges that documentation used in obtaining the original loan was found to be deficient to the extent that the Lands Commission could not register it as a mortgage. …
… GARID alone spans four ministries, 17 local assemblies, the Hydrological Authority, NADMO, GMet, the Water Resources Commission and the Lands Commission, a diffusion that critics argue means responsibility belongs, in practice, to no one. …
… Conduct a Lands Commission search on the project land before paying anything. A Lands Commission search plus customary consent verification plus a licensed property lawyer is essential, not optional. …
… Buy Verified Title The Land Act 2020 strengthened the registration framework, and the Lands Commission’s digital portal now allows diaspora buyers to verify title remotely. …
Alhaji Yusif Suleman cutting the tape to commission the facility The Volta Regional Office of the Lands Commission has commissioned a new Client Service Access Unit (CSAU) and rolled out the Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS) in Ho. …
The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC), Dr Toni Aubynn, has defended the Lands Commission’s decision to gazette 5,000 hectares (12,365 acres) of land for the Petroleum Hub project. …
… District Assemblies, the Lands Commission, and the Ministry of Works and Housing must treat planning violations as the life-and-death matters they are. …
President Mahama announced that Cabinet has directed the Attorney-General to draft a bill to strengthen protection of state assets and establish clear guidelines for their disposal. The Cabinet also approved the National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Plan 2026–2030 to guide efforts to fight corruption over the next five years.
Why it matters
Cabinet directs Attorney-General to draft state asset protection bill and approves National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Plan, signalling strengthened accountability measures.
President Mahama announced that Cabinet has directed the Attorney-General to draft a bill to strengthen protection of state assets and establish clear guidelines for their disposal. The Cabinet also approved the National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Plan 2026–2030 to guide efforts to fight corruption over the next five years.
First Atlantic Bank has petitioned the High Court's Commercial Division to wind up Kenpong Travel and Tour Limited, citing the company's inability to pay a court-ordered debt exceeding GH¢2.5 million. The petition, filed under the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act 2020, seeks to place the travel company into liquidation and realise its assets to satisfy the outstanding judgement debt.
Accra continues to experience severe flooding in the same areas—including Weija, Kasoa, Dansoman, and Lakeside—a pattern documented since at least 1960. Credible studies identify five persistent causes: the city's low-lying geography, settlements built on floodplains and drainage channels, drains clogged with plastic and sachet-water bags, outdated drainage infrastructure, and unenforced zoning and wetland-protection laws.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources inaugurated a 20-member Greater Accra Public Lands Protection Taskforce comprising representatives from the Lands Commission, the Ministry, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, and private sector members. The taskforce's mandate is to monitor and protect public lands, prevent unlawful occupation, and support recovery of state lands that have been encroached upon.
Off-plan purchases in Accra allow diaspora buyers to commit to units before or during construction at below-market prices and pay in stages, but the risk is high if developers run out of cash and projects stall; proper due diligence is essential to capture appreciation without losing money.
Ghana's Year of Return campaign in 2019, which marked 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were taken to Jamestown, Virginia, has evolved from heritage visits into sustained property ownership, reshaping who owns prime real estate in Accra. The follow-up "Beyond the Return" programme, launched in December 2019 and running to 2030, institutionalised the shift from temporary diaspora engagement to permanent settlement.
The Volta Regional Office of the Lands Commission has commissioned a Client Service Access Unit and rolled out the Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS) to digitise land administration, improve transparency, and reduce processing delays. Deputy Minister Alhaji Yusif Suleman praised the reforms as addressing long-standing bureaucratic issues, and acknowledged businessman Francis Tay's funding of ELIS deployment in the region.
The CEO of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation defended the Lands Commission's decision to gazette 5,000 hectares for the Petroleum Hub project, stating it was based on a written directive from President John Dramani Mahama following his announcement to the Western Regional House of Chiefs on July 30, 2025.
Since 1935, floods in Ghana have killed over 3,000 people and displaced more than 700,000, with the 2015 Accra petrol station fire that killed at least 150 illustrating how poor land-use planning and drainage maintenance turn rainy seasons into preventable catastrophes. The article argues repeated flooding reflects institutional failure and inaction rather than inevitable natural disaster.
Ghana's tax system is becoming more data-driven, enforcement-oriented and ambitious than ever, according to law firm BELA, driven by the Ghana Revenue Authority's expanding digital capabilities, reforms to value-added tax administration, and transfer pricing enforcement. The government is intensifying domestic revenue mobilisation ahead of the IMF programme's expected conclusion in 2026, with the Integrated Tax Administration System launched on April 1, 2026 automating key tax functions and enabling continuous oversight.
Ghana's Petroleum Hub Project, described as the nation's most ambitious undertaking, has faced land acquisition challenges since its inception in 2021. The article notes that major national projects in Ghana typically encounter community resistance over land issues, funding, and environmental concerns, and cites similar delays experienced by Nigeria's Dangote Refinery.
Ghana's Petroleum Hub Project, launched in 2021, has encountered land acquisition difficulties since inception. The article notes that major national projects routinely face community resistance over land issues, citing the Nigerian Dangote Refinery as a parallel example of similar delays.
The National House of Chiefs has rejected a Constitutional Review Committee recommendation to merge the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) with the Lands Commission, arguing that OASL should remain independent under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to ensure efficient management of stool land revenue and accountability.
A delegation from GNPC Explorco held strategic discussions with traditional authorities in Tamale, including the Overlord of Dagbon, to brief them on the Voltaian Basin Project and establish an operational office in the northern sector. The delegation also met with the Lands Commission and Minerals Commission to discuss safety measures and logistics for oil exploration that spans approximately one-third of Ghana's landmass.
The National House of Chiefs has rejected Constitutional Review Committee recommendations to merge the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands with the Lands Commission, arguing the OASL should remain independent to protect stool land revenues and support traditional authorities in land administration.
The National House of Chiefs has rejected a Constitutional Review Committee recommendation to merge the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) with the Lands Commission, arguing that OASL should remain independent because it was created to improve management of stool land revenue, ensure transparency and accountability, and protect traditional authorities' land interests — purposes that would be compromised under the Lands Commission.
As of May 1, only 61 out of 185 state-owned enterprises and specified entities submitted their 2025 financial statements to SIGA by the April 30 deadline, representing a 32% compliance rate. More than 100 entities had neither submitted statements nor provided reasons for delays.
Ghana's geographic advantage, infrastructure, political stability, and emerging petroleum assets position it to create an integrated petroleum and petrochemical hub serving domestic energy needs and serving as an export node for West Africa. The article references Nigeria's Dangote Refinery as a model, which processes 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and reached full refining capacity in February 2026.
A real estate analyst argues that gated communities in Ghana's urban centres create a misleading impression of safety and legitimacy, but the physical development does not guarantee the legality of underlying land transactions. Legal disputes increasingly emerge from well-packaged developer-led projects rather than informal land dealings.
Bernard Oduro, a Ghanaian property owner based in Canada, has accused Greater Accra Regional Minister Linda Ocloo of trespassing on his 2.66-acre land in Dodowa, which he acquired under a 99-year lease in 2005 and holds a valid Lands Commission title for. He claims the land has faced persistent encroachment and that despite a High Court injunction granted in October 2025 restraining all activities, development works have resumed under the current administration.
Ghana's real estate sector attracts significant investor interest but conceals legal, institutional and socio-cultural vulnerabilities that expose buyers to financial and legal risks, including issues like multiple sales of single parcels and litigation engineered as business strategy.