The placards said it plainly: “We need President’s probe into illegal demolition.” Dressed in red and wearing arm bands, land and property owners from Amrahia Dairy Farms marched to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, handed in one petition, then went on to the Presidency with another.
They want President John Mahama to investigate the demolition of their homes and other property without a court order. The people who carried it out, they say, claimed to act on the Presidency’s authority. Other signs read “Demolition without court order,” “Djato is terrorising Ghanaians,” and “Djato, you are warned.”
What the association says happened
The protest was led by Prosper Joemens Rhormiller, chairman and president of the Amrahia Dairy Farms Property and Land Owners Association. He called the demolitions a violation of residents’ fundamental human rights.
According to the association, a company called Global Delivery Services arrived on March 18, 2026, with excavators and some armed police officers. It was led by Ben Seyram Attiaka and Clemence Gjato, the group alleges, and tore down structures belonging to members with no court order. A notice dated March 12, 2026, from Global Delivery Limited had said the company held a Power of Attorney from the grandson of the late Solomon Robert Oddamtten, who allegedly claimed to own the land. The notice said the company was authorised to manage and regularise matters tied to it.
Petitioners say the company later claimed the Lands Commission had instructed the demolition. They dispute this, arguing the Commission’s job is to manage state lands, not to approve demolitions. They also say documents they got from the Commission contain inconsistencies about the areas and parties involved. The demolition was meant to hit people who trace their grants to Oyarifa, not Amrahia, they say, and the Commission papers name Anyok Holdings rather than Global Delivery Limited.
The land’s history
Rhormiller said members bought their plots after 40 per cent of a tract of about 1.9 miles, which the government acquired in 1970 for a dairy farm project, was released to the original owners. In November 2020, he said, the government realised those owners had never been compensated, which led to talks between then Lands and Natural Resources Minister Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh and the affected families. The released land was to be shared among families with the Lands Commission, according to each family’s grant. Members, he said, acquired their land from the Amrahia family, one of the original owners, and hold indentures as proof.
The Presidency’s reply
Dr. Samuel Ayeh, a presidential aide, took the petition on behalf of Mahama. He praised the residents for showing commitment to the rule of law and called their alleged treatment reprehensible. Even if those behind the demolitions did claim authority over the land, he said, that gave them no right to intimidate, harass or assault residents. He promised the petition would go to the appropriate authorities for swift action.
