The La Traditional Council has broken their silence on the demolition exercise at the La Pleasure Beach Resort last Friday, insisting they were not consulted before the exercise was conducted despite being the allodial owners of the land.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, October 7, 2026, the La Shikitele, Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, gave a detailed chronology of events leading to the demolition and the meeting held afterwards at the National Security Council Secretariat.

According to him, the council first got wind of the intended demolition on September 16, three weeks before the exercise, through its youth group, the Coalition of La Associations (COLA) together with some management members of the La Pleasure Beach Resort.

"They came to inform us about the intended demolitions and the engagements that they've had with the Director of Special Operations at the National Security, Mr. Richard Jakpa," Nii Koofeh said.

He said COLA told the council they had been engaging National Security for about a month before approaching the traditional council, explaining they thought the council's representatives on the beach management would have reported it.

What they revealed, he said, was that the management of Labadi Beach Hotel led by its Board Chairman had engaged National Security to carry out the exercise.

"There and then, we decided to write to the Board Chairman and the Managing Director to invite them to our following week's meeting. They were not able to come for the reason that the Board Chairman was indisposed and that we should give them two weeks," he recounted.

A week after, the La Dadekotopon MP, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), the NDC constituency chairman and executives came to the council, saying they had also heard about the intended demolition.

"They told us that they've made their checks from the higher authorities and they said they know nothing about the intended exercise and that they will take steps for it not to happen," the Shikitele said.

A week later, the MCE and the constituency chairman returned with a reply that they were working on it and would update the Council, only for them to begin the demolition on the blindside of the traditional authorities.

"We didn't hear anything and then Friday dawn, we heard they came around 3:30am. They started the demolition and then they carried through with what they said they were going to do without recourse to us. Nobody formally engaged the traditional council on it except the information that we had from the people who came before us. Government never engaged us," he stressed.

After the demolition, government called a meeting on Monday at the National Security Council Secretariat chaired by the National Security Coordinator and attended by the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, the La MCE and other relevant stakeholders.

Nii Koofeh IV said, during that meeting, National Security explained that SSNIT engaged them to carry out the demolition because SSNIT claims the land around the beach area belongs to them by virtue of owning the two hotels and that the land is covered by a 1967 acquisition for the Trade Fair Site development.

"SSNIT claims that once that area belongs to them for the purposes of their hotel, they should own the beach in front too. That was the explanation," he said.

He added that the council told them the land was acquired from the La Stool and no compensation has been paid.

"Nothing should go on there without our involvement and engagement. We also know that the southern part of the acquisition doesn't cover the entire beach."

National Security also cited human security concerns for the operation while SSNIT said the enclave needed redevelopment because the existing structures did not befit the status of the five-star Labadi Beach Hotel and the four-star La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.

"Having such a development that doesn't befit the status of the hotels affects their reputation and their business. People can decide not to patronize the hotels because of the conditions of the beach. And also, it being state hotels, built with pensioners' money, it is for the benefit of the state if they are able to get more value from the place," Nii Koofeh IV intimated.

"We were very, very aggrieved and unhappy about the approach because we were not engaged. We told them that we are primary stakeholders as the land owners. At least, we should have been alerted," the La Shikitele registered their displeasure.

He said National Security responded that "it is not every operation or exercise that people would need to be informed," a position the Council rejected.

The Council also took issue with a SSNIT publication that stated it will "continue to engage" the traditional council which implied engagement had already started.

"If you say you will continue to engage us meaning you've already started engaging us, which wasn't true. So we spoke to SSNIT on that and then they apologised. The National Security also apologised for not engaging us before the exercise was carried out," he disclosed.

According to Nii Koofeh IV, it was agreed that the SSNIT will halt the redevelopment it intends to undertake and a committee formed to look into the issues and consider SSNIT's plans for an amicable settlement.

"We told them that, as a La Stool, we want our interests to be secure. That whatever belongs to La, there should come to La. The interests of the La individuals that work there should also be secure. Also, after the redevelopment, vendors who were there should be considered."

He added that people have suffered losses during the demolition and must be compensated, stating "those people should be taken care of with regards to what they've lost. They accepted all that. We are now waiting for the formation of the committee".

He emphasised: "Though we are for development, we told them we want the right thing to be done. Anything that will give more value or enhance the value at the place for La and also enhance the benefits to the La State and the La citizens, we are for it but everything must be done right."