A Spintex-based businessman, Habib Musah Adams, has filed a formal petition with the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, over a disputed Teshie-Manet property. Adams alleges that his construction workers were repeatedly arrested and his property was demolished while he was in court fighting for it. The petition, dated 14 September 2026, was also sent to the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the Registrar of the High Court's Land Division.
According to Adams, he has owned a 1.49-acre plot at Teshie-Manet, near the T.B. Joshua Church, since 2012. Trouble began in 2026 when he started fencing the land, leading to a series of interventions by the police. On 14 July, police officers from the Regional Police Headquarters halted work and detained one of his labourers. The following day, officers from the Anti-Land Guard Unit arrested six more workers.
Adams further alleges that on 9 September, while he and his team were attending a court session related to some of his staff, demolition activity took place at the property. A police officer initially arrested the machine operator on site, but the situation changed once more officers arrived. Adams has asked the IGP to determine which officers authorised the interventions and under what circumstances they were carried out.
The petition also seeks clarity on the role of a person referred to as "Mboma" and requests a review of the arrest and prosecution of 11 tradesmen who were remanded on 3 September before being released following a later court hearing. The underlying dispute is the subject of a civil suit, Habib Musah Adams v. Dr Benjamin Accam and 5 Others, filed at the High Court's Land Division on 27 July under Suit No. LD/0580/2026.
The Ghana Police Service itself is listed as a defendant in the civil suit. The court granted an interim injunction on 30 July restraining all parties from entering or carrying out any activity on the property while the matter is pending. Adams claims that the alleged arrests and demolition occurred while the injunction was in force.
Land disputes remain a significant source of conflict in Ghana, often pitting private citizens against one another for years while properties sit contested and construction work stalls or is destroyed. Cases like this one test how police are expected to behave once a court has already stepped in with an injunction.
The civil ownership case continues before the High Court's Land Division, while the next hearing in the related criminal proceedings is scheduled for 21 October 2026. Neither the Ghana Police Service nor the other parties named in the underlying dispute had issued a public response to Adams's allegations at the time of the report.
Key points
- Habib Musah Adams petitions IGP over alleged police overreach in Teshie-Manet land dispute
- The disputed property is a 1.49-acre plot at Teshie-Manet, near the T.B. Joshua Church
- The case has significant implications for how police handle land disputes in Ghana, particularly when a court has already issued an injunction.
