The Member of Parliament for Subin, Kofi Obiri Yeboah, has raised serious concerns over President John Dramani Mahama’s directive halting the sale, lease, and processing of all state and public lands, describing the move as a breach of Ghana’s land laws.
Speaking to Journalists after delivering a statement on the floor of Parliament on Monday, July 14, 2025, the Subin MP contended that the embargo contravenes Section 236 of the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), which guarantees the constitutional right of every Ghanaian to acquire, use, and dispose of property—either individually or jointly.
“It is unfair to prevent people from selling land they have lawfully acquired simply because of an embargo imposed by the President. This is not only a breach of the law, but it also infringes on people’s constitutional rights,” Mr. Obiri Yeboah stated.
He further lamented the economic implications of the directive, claiming that the Lands Commission—Ghana’s second-highest contributor of non-tax revenue to the Consolidated Fund after the Ghana Revenue Authority—has been severely affected. According to him, the embargo has already cost the state more than GHS 2 billion in revenue within the past seven months.
“This single letter has caused the nation to lose more than two billion Ghana cedis. And you expect us to remain silent? We are not in politics to enrich ourselves, but to protect the interests of the ordinary Ghanaian. Without these funds, we cannot build roads, hospitals, or schools,” he said.
Using a personal example, the MP revealed that land he purchased in 1975 with a 99-year lease has been rendered unusable under the embargo, which prevents him from selling, mortgaging, or transferring the property—even for legitimate purposes such as securing a bank loan for business expansion.
“I cannot even assign my interest to a third party. If someone trespasses on my land or if the Lands Commission wrongfully reallocates it and I win a court case, I still cannot repossess the land due to this embargo,” he bemoaned.
Mr. Obiri Yeboah also disclosed that the Deputy Minister for Lands, in response to his parliamentary statement, assured the House that the embargo would be lifted by the second week of August 2025—just three weeks away.
“If we’ve waited almost seven months, we can endure three more weeks. But if the ban is not lifted by August 2nd, you will definitely hear from me again,” he warned.
President Mahama’s directive, issued on January 10, 2025, instructed the Lands Commission to suspend all transactions involving state and public lands pending further notice—a move the government described as necessary to sanitize land administration and prevent abuse. However, critics like the Subin MP argue that it has caused more harm than good.
Source: Felix Nyaaba | ExpressNewsGhana.com