A private Ghanaian citizen, Mr. Samson Asaki Awingobit, has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to suspend the US$1.3 billion Sentuo Airport Garden City project, citing major national security concerns.
In a petition dated September 22, 2026, Mr. Awingobit said the siting of the massive project at 10 Giffard Road, Airport Residential Area – in close proximity to Burma Camp, Air Force Base, 37 Military Hospital and Kotoka International Airport – requires an urgent second look.
The project, which was sod-cut by the President on September 15, is expected to comprise 582 premium apartments, a 600-room hotel, a 2,500-capacity conference centre, mall and other facilities.
Mr. Awingobit said he was not against foreign investment or the Sentuo Group, but warned that a high-rise complex of that scale could provide elevated vantage points and technological access over sensitive defence installations.
“Have the Ghana Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence, National Security and GCAA conducted a comprehensive security assessment and certified that the location poses no risk?” he queried.
He also raised questions about who will control the CCTV, security control rooms, data storage and cybersecurity systems of the complex and whether foreign nationals will have access to restricted areas.
Citing cases in Dubai and Cambodia where commercial properties were linked to money laundering and online scam centres, the petitioner said Ghana must not wait for a security incident to occur.
He is therefore asking the President to: Suspend further construction pending a full security assessment; Commission a multi-agency review involving Defence, National Security, Police, GCAA and Ghana Airports Company; Review the height, orientation and tenancy vetting arrangements of the project; and Ensure Ghanaian security agencies retain oversight of security arrangements in the complex.
“This petition is not anti-China. It is about location and long-term national interest,” Mr. Awingobit stressed.
Copies of the petition have been sent to the Speaker of Parliament, Chief of Staff, Defence and Interior Ministers, CDS, IGP and Parliamentary Committees on Defence and Interior.
