Private citizen Samson Asaki Awingobit has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to suspend further construction of the US$1.3 billion Sentuo Airport Garden City Project in Accra pending a comprehensive national-security assessment.
The petition, dated September 23, 2026, raises concerns about the location, scale and proposed design of the mixed-use development at 10 Giffard Road in the Airport Residential Area and its proximity to military, defence and aviation installations.
President Mahama cut the sod for the project on September 15, 2026. The development, being undertaken by Sentuo Group, is expected to include 582 premium apartments, a 600-room hotel, a 2,500-capacity conference facility, healthcare facilities, a shopping mall, landscaped gardens and other commercial and leisure amenities.
Mr Awingobit said he was not opposed to the project, foreign direct investment or Chinese investment in Ghana, but argued that its strategic location required scrutiny beyond conventional planning and commercial considerations.
He said the scale and height of the proposed development raised questions about whether it could create elevated vantage points or other forms of access to sensitive government, military and aviation facilities.
According to him, the government should establish whether the Ghana Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence, National Security, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and other relevant institutions had conducted a comprehensive security assessment of the project.
He said such an assessment should cover the project’s height, design, orientation, technological infrastructure, access arrangements and operational model.
Mr Awingobit also raised questions about the security architecture that would govern the completed facility.
He wants the authorities to determine who would control CCTV and surveillance systems, who would have access to security-control rooms, where surveillance data would be stored and what cybersecurity protocols would apply.
He further called for security personnel working at the development to be appropriately vetted and for Ghanaian security agencies to have adequate oversight of the complex’s security arrangements.
The petitioner also wants the proposed tenancy arrangements reviewed, including mechanisms for vetting residents, corporate tenants and other users of facilities within the development.
He said beneficial ownership and source-of-funds checks should also be conducted on the project and relevant corporate entities in accordance with Ghanaian law.
Mr Awingobit cited reported cases from other jurisdictions involving properties and commercial facilities that were subsequently linked by authorities or investigators to alleged cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes.
He stressed, however, that such cases should not be interpreted as evidence against Chinese investment or Chinese-owned properties generally.
Rather, he said they demonstrated the need for robust due diligence, beneficial-ownership checks, tenant screening, cybersecurity controls and continuous security oversight for large private developments.
Among his 10 requests to President Mahama is an immediate suspension of construction pending a multi-agency security assessment involving the Ministry of Defence, Ghana Armed Forces, National Security, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and Ghana Airports Company Limited.
He is also seeking a strategic land-use review to determine whether the project’s proposed height, density, orientation and location are compatible with the security requirements of neighbouring defence, government and aviation installations.
The petitioner wants a counter-surveillance assessment to examine whether the structures could provide visual, electronic or technological access to sensitive national installations.
He has further called for clear security-control arrangements for the completed development, enhanced beneficial-ownership and source-of-funds checks, occupant-vetting mechanisms and possible modifications to the project’s design or restricted zones if security concerns are identified.
Mr Awingobit also wants the findings of the assessment made available to relevant parliamentary oversight committees, subject to legitimate national-security confidentiality requirements.
He maintained that his petition was not intended to undermine the investment or the interests of Sentuo Group.
“This petition is not anti-China. It is not anti-investment. It is not an objection to foreign direct investment,” he said.
President Mahama, at the project’s sod-cutting ceremony, described the development as a major private-sector investment in the Airport enclave and urged public institutions to work with the developers to resolve legitimate bottlenecks while safeguarding the public interest.
Mr Awingobit is therefore urging the President to direct an immediate comprehensive national-security assessment before construction advances to a stage where modifications to the project’s design or location could become difficult or costly.
He said his appeal was ultimately to ensure that the economic benefits of the investment are pursued without compromising Ghana’s strategic national-security interests.
