President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to lay a new bill before Parliament aimed at tightening controls over the sale, lease and transfer of public property, as part of efforts to protect the public interest and improve accountability in the management of state assets.
The proposed Divestiture of Public Property Bill will make parliamentary approval mandatory before any public property particularly government lands and strategic state assets can be sold, transferred, mortgaged or privatised.
“If you want to sell public property such as landed assets, you must seek the approval of the representatives of the people, which is Parliament,” President Mahama said. He added that under the new law, “any public land transaction will not be processed at the Lands Commission unless it is ratified by Parliament.”
According to the President, the legislation is intended to halt what he described as the widespread disposal and mortgaging of state assets without adequate public oversight. He stressed that no administration should be allowed to divest public property without being held accountable to the people through their elected representatives.
President Mahama made these remarks on Wednesday evening, February 3, 2026, during an engagement with members of the Ghanaian diaspora in Lusaka, Zambia. The meeting formed part of his three-day state visit to the Southern African country at the invitation of Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
Touching on state-owned enterprises, the President revealed that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is now operational again. He noted that under the previous administration, there were attempts to hand over the refinery to a private entity under a 15-year arrangement, a move he questioned due to what he described as a lack of public accountability.
“One government cannot just come and mortgage public property without the say of the people’s representatives,” he said.
President Mahama explained that once the bill is passed, any proposal to auction public land, sell government property or divest a state-owned factory would be subjected to parliamentary scrutiny.
“If Parliament thinks it is fair, they will approve it. If they think it is not fair, they will not approve it and if they don’t approve it, it cannot happen,” he stated.
He added that he has directed the Attorney-General to begin work on the proposed legislation.
