Accra Turf Club Demands Land Title After Borteyman Racecourse Demolition

The Accra Turf Club is demanding justice and a formal land title after its Borteyman Race Course was demolished on 22 August 2026, escalating a long-running property dispute into a national political issue.

The Accra Turf Club says about 200 armed men, accompanied by police officers and heavy machinery, entered the Borteyman Race Course on 22 August 2026 and demolished roughly 100 horse stables, buildings and other facilities. The club is now demanding justice, restoration of access, and a formal land title for the site.

What the Accra Turf Club says happened

In a statement issued on 25 August, the club said a group of about 200 armed men, led by persons identifying themselves as Clement Dzato and another known as Azuma, entered the racecourse at Borteyman, near the Borteyman Stadium, on Saturday, 22 August.

The group was accompanied by police officers under the command of DSP Malaika, who, on questioning, said he was stationed at Police Headquarters. The club says the group arrived with nine bulldozers and one excavator and carried out what it called the total demolition of the racecourse facilities, including approximately 100 horse stables, buildings and track railings.

The club condemned the events as forceful entry, trespass, demolition and takeover, and called for investigations. It addressed its appeal to President John Dramani Mahama, Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Attorney-General Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, Inspector-General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohuno and National Security Coordinator COP Abdul-Osman Razak.

The club’s legal claim to the Borteyman land

Club chairman Frederick Nuer says horse racing in Accra dates back to 1876 and the Accra Turf Club was formally established in 1923. He told Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams that the club relocated to Borteyman after leaving its original racecourse, where the National Security Secretariat and the Kempinski Hotel now stand.

The move, he said, followed a 2006 agreement with the government and was backed by a 2005 court order recognising the club’s right to occupy 46.64 hectares of land in the Borteyman enclave.

That documentation is now the core of the fight. The club wants the Lands Commission to perfect its documentation and grant it formal title, converting a decades-old occupation right into a registered asset. It also wants facilities promised under the original relocation agreement to be delivered.

A property dispute becomes a political fight

On 10 September 2026, the horse-racing community — stable owners, horse owners, jockeys, groomers and trainers — marched from Independence Square through Accra, stopping at the Sports Ministry, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry and the Lands Commission before presenting a petition at Jubilee House.

“We have come not merely to protest, but to seek the intervention of the highest office of our motherland Ghana in order for justice to prevail,” the club said, warning that “justice delayed is justice denied.” Presidential staffer Nana Yaa Jantuah received the petition on behalf of President Mahama and assured the demonstrators their concerns would be addressed.

At the Lands Commission, board chairman Dr Wordsworth Odame Larbi received the petition and said the organisation would continue engaging the parties toward an amicable resolution.

The same day, the Criminal Investigations Department arrested Dr Clemence Gyato in connection with the demolition. He remains in custody assisting investigations; police say no criminal liability has been established. DSP Alhassan Malaika Jibril had been interdicted on 26 August over his alleged role in providing security for the operation.

Why the stakes go beyond horse racing

The club frames the takeover as an attack on a century-old sport that it says supports more than 30,000 livelihoods. That figure is the club’s own estimate, but the racing ecosystem of owners, trainers, jockeys, groomers and stables gives the dispute a visible constituency.

The case also lands on a government already under pressure over state land. Sports Minister Kofi Adams called the demolition “unfortunate” and said the government plans to develop a sports village on land it has acquired in the Borteyman area — a plan that will now have to coexist with the club’s claim.

For investors and property professionals, the Accra Turf Club case highlights the legal risk of holding or developing land without a perfected title. It also shows how quickly a local asset dispute can draw in the presidency, the police leadership and the courts of public opinion.

The wider land-governance test

Land governance is a core frontier issue across West Africa, where disputes over untitled or contested state land affect local businesses, foreign investors and state-linked projects alike.

The Accra Turf Club case fits the wider story covered in Africa: The New Scramble, where control of land and assets shapes political and economic power. In Accra, that scramble is playing out over a racecourse, not a mine or a port.

For regional readers, the lesson is that formal land titles are becoming a frontline defence against politically connected encroachment. The Accra Turf Club is testing whether petitioning the presidency and marching in the capital can force a title to be issued.

What to watch next

The police investigation is the immediate next step, with Dr Clemence Gyato in custody and DSP Malaika Jibril interdicted. Whether prosecutors bring charges will show how high up the chain of command the inquiry reaches.

The response from President Mahama and the Lands Commission will signal whether the government is willing to perfect the club’s title. A granted title could set a precedent for other long-term occupants of state land in Accra.

If the title is denied or delayed, the club has signalled it will escalate its campaign. Either way, the Borteyman case is now a test of how Ghana resolves the collision between court orders, relocation agreements and political power.

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