The La Traditional Council says SSNIT and National Security pulled down structures at the La Pleasure Beach Resort without talking to the custodians of the land first.
The La Traditional Council has publicly objected to the demolition of structures at the La Pleasure Beach Resort in Accra, saying the people who hold the land in trust were never consulted before the bulldozers moved in.
The complaint was laid out by the La Shikitele, Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, at a press conference on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, as reported by The Ghana Report. He used the briefing to walk journalists through how the Council learnt of the exercise and what has happened since.
How the Council says it found out
According to Nii Koofeh IV, the Council only heard about the planned demolition on 16 September, and not from any state agency. The information came from the Coalition of La Associations (COLA), a grouping of local associations, together with some members of the management of the beach resort.
Those groups told the Council they had already been in discussions with National Security for roughly a month about the planned exercise.
The Council then invited the Board Chairman and the Managing Director of the La Beach facilities for talks, but that meeting did not come off.
The Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon, the Municipal Chief Executive and constituency executives also visited the Council after hearing of the plan. Nii Koofeh IV said they gave assurances that efforts were under way to stop the demolition.
It went ahead anyway. The structures were brought down at about 3:30 am on Friday.
The land dispute at the centre of it
At a later meeting at the National Security Council Secretariat, the Council was told that the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the state pensions manager, had asked National Security to carry out the demolition.
SSNIT's case, as relayed by the La Shikitele, rests on its ownership of hotels near the beach and on a 1967 land acquisition linked to the development of the Trade Fair site.
The Council disputes that position. It insists the land was taken from the La Stool and that compensation for it was never paid.
What has been agreed so far
Nii Koofeh IV said both National Security and SSNIT have since apologised for going ahead without engaging the traditional authorities.
He added that SSNIT has agreed to pause its planned redevelopment of the area while a committee is set up to look at the dispute and work towards a settlement both sides can live with.
The Council is also pressing for compensation for vendors and other individuals who lost property and livelihoods in the demolition.
Nii Koofeh IV was careful to say the Council is not against development of the beachfront. His position is that any redevelopment must safeguard the interests of the La Stool, residents and the businesses that operate there.
