La Pleasure Beach demolition deepens dispute over Accra’s coastline

A joint security operation began demolishing structures at La Pleasure Beach in Accra in the early hours of Friday, 2 October 2026.

Personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces’ 48 Engineer Regiment and the Ghana Police Service reportedly arrived at about 4:00 a.m. Several buildings were completely or partially demolished, while traders, workers and other occupants attempted to retrieve their belongings and leave the area.

The operation took place near the Labadi Beach Hotel under a heavy security presence. Some affected workers told journalists that they were given only a short period to collect their property before machinery began pulling structures down.

This operation concerns La Pleasure Beach, sometimes also described as the La Beach Resort area. It should not be confused with the demolition conducted at Laboma Beach on 13 September, although the two operations involve neighbouring parts of Accra’s coastline and some of the same state institutions.

MP challenges the operation

La Dadekotopon MP Rita Naa Odoley Sowah went to the site and confronted personnel supervising the demolition. Sowah said she had previously received assurances that structures near the Labadi Beach Hotel would not be demolished. According to her account, she was subsequently told that the land affected by Friday’s operation belonged to or had been allocated to the hotel.

She questioned both the authority behind the exercise and the level of force deployed at the site. No detailed public statement from the government, National Security Secretariat, Ghana Armed Forces or Labadi Beach Hotel explaining the legal basis and precise boundaries of Friday’s operation had been located at the time of publication.

Her statements raise important questions, but do not by themselves establish who legally owns or controls the disputed land.

A disputed eviction notice

The demolition follows a warning publicly challenged by La Pleasure Beach Resort management in September. On 21 September, management said it had received a 24-hour ultimatum associated with a petition from Labadi Beach Hotel. It argued that the land was connected to traditional Ga ownership and that the underlying dispute was already before the courts.

The resort’s communications director, Rahman Ashitey, maintained that demolition should not proceed before the judiciary determined the case. These remain claims made by the resort’s management. GH.today has not seen a final judgment establishing ownership of the specific area demolished on Friday. The existence of a dispute should consequently not be presented as proof that either the resort, Labadi Beach Hotel, the state or a traditional authority has prevailed.

Why this is different from Laboma

On 13 September, the government demolished structures at Laboma Beach as part of its post-flood mitigation programme. The official justification was environmental and hydrological. Authorities said businesses had occupied reclaimed portions of the Kpeshie Lagoon’s buffer and water-retention area, reducing its ability to hold and discharge stormwater.

REGSEC had issued a 21-day notice after an inspection in early August. The affected facilities reportedly included Pink Flamingo, ULA Beach Club, Trophy, Bliss Escape, Amsterdam Kitchen, Si Beach Resort and Alora Beach Resort.

The Presidency said the operation targeted identified structures rather than the entire Laboma enclave. It linked the clearance to dredging, wetland restoration and efforts to reduce flooding around Tse Addo.

For Friday’s La Pleasure Beach exercise, however, the reporting available so far focuses primarily on a dispute over land ownership and occupation. Authorities have not yet publicly demonstrated that the operation relied upon the same Kpeshie Lagoon buffer-zone assessment used at Laboma. The two demolitions are geographically and politically connected, but their stated legal and technical foundations should not be conflated.

Questions that still require answers

The institutions involved should clarify which authority ordered the demolition; the legal instrument and enforcement notice used; the surveyed boundaries of the affected land; whether any court order covered the site; the precise interest claimed by Labadi Beach Hotel; and whether the operation was related to flood mitigation, land recovery or another public purpose.

Until those records are available, the safest conclusion is that structures have been demolished during an unresolved and politically sensitive dispute—but that the competing ownership claims have not yet been conclusively determined in public.

Sources

3News: https://www.3news.com/news/several-structures-demolished-at-la-pleasure-beach

MyJoyOnline: https://www.myjoyonline.com/demolition-begins-at-la-pleasure-beach-amid-heavy-security-presence/

Citi Newsroom: https://www.citinewsroom.com/2026/09/la-pleasure-beach-resort-rejects-demolition-directive-cites-pending-court-case/

Presidency statement on Laboma: https://ebs.publicnow.com/view/009AA922E9822184FA6387FCB7057FB805F0611E

Graphic Online: https://graphiconline.com/news/general-news/ghana-news-laboma-beach-regsec-gives-21-day-demolition-notice-to-encroachers.html