The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has raised alarm over what he describes as a “tsunami” of land compensation claims confronting the state, warning that the financial implications for Ghana have run into billions of cedis.
Speaking on the growing burden of land-related litigation, Dr. Ayine said compensation cases have become one of the most serious challenges facing his ministry, with some claims demanding as much as GH¢500 million.
“There are also a lot of land matters especially land compensation and Your Excellency those are becoming a headache for me as a Minister of Justice.
“In fact, there is for want of a better word a Tsunami of land compensation cases that are hitting the Republic and the figures are mind-blowing. Some as much as GHC500 million claims being made in respect of compensation,” he said when the Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang paid a working visit to the Ministry on Thursday, February 5, 2026.
According to the Attorney-General, many of the cases are rooted in historical land acquisitions dating back to the colonial era.
He explained that claimants often retrieve archival documents to argue that compensation was never paid for lands taken by the colonial government, subsequently dragging the state to court.
“The claimant mostly will go and duster documents from the archives and claim that the colonial government did not pay compensation for land and then they will take the government to court and for some reason they keep winning all the way to the Supreme Court,” Dr. Ayine noted, describing the trend as deeply troubling.
He revealed that preliminary estimates conducted by his office suggest that the total value of the claims could amount to several billions of Ghana cedis.
“The last time we sat down and did calculation, on the back of the envelope, we are looking at billions of Ghana Cedis in land compensation claims, so it is something that we want to bring to the attention of government,” he added.
Dr. Ayine said the situation has been formally brought to the attention of the government, adding that he has instructed the Solicitor-General to prepare a detailed brief for President John Dramani Mahama on the land compensation crisis facing the state.
“I have directed the solicitor general to put together a brief for the President on the land compensation Tsunami we are facing,” he stated.
The Attorney-General stressed the need for a comprehensive policy and legal response to manage the growing trend of claims and protect the public purse.
