One man's grip on La Pleasure Beach denies community millions in development funds

Stanley Nunoo's decade-long control of La Pleasure Beach has left the youth of La without scholarships and the traditional landowners without their share of millions of cedis in revenue, despite multiple court orders demanding accountability and transparent governance of the lucrative coastal facility.

The protracted conflict centres on Stanley Nunoo, who has maintained control of the beach's operations and finances in defiance of a Court of Appeal order that restructured the management committee and mandated a peaceful handover of responsibilities.

The dispute traces back to a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding between the La Traditional Council, the allodial owners of the land, and the Ghana Tourism Development Company for the development and management of La Pleasure Beach. When youth agitation in 2012 and 2013 demanded accountability, the courts established an Interim Management Committee with representation from the La Traditional Council, GTDC, and the La Youth Association, with revenue to be shared: twenty percent to the traditional council as landowners and thirty percent to a youth development fund for social initiatives.However, from 14th October 2014 to 21st July 2022, the three-member committee structure effectively collapsed as Nunoo, appointed as the youth representative, assumed sole control of beach operations.

During this period, neither the traditional council received their stipulated twenty percent nor did funds flow into the youth development account, despite the beach generating substantial monthly revenues. Twenty-five individuals who questioned the lack of accountability were cited for contempt of court and jailed.On 21st July 2022, the Court of Appeal restructured the arrangement, dissolving the three-member committee and ordering the formation of a nine-member management structure with three representatives each from the La Traditional Council, the youth development fund, and GTDC. The chairmanship was to rotate annually among the three groups. Nunoo was given six months, until January 2023, to facilitate the handover.

The handover never materialised. Instead, according to documents filed with Cantonments Police Station, Nunoo allegedly falsified signatures of two directors of the La Youth Association to appoint himself as a director, thereby qualifying for the new committee. The complaint notes that taxpayer identification numbers were interchanged and names misspelt. Forensic analysis was requested at police headquarters.Nunoo subsequently registered La Pleasure Beach as personal property, transforming what had been a community resource held in trust by the traditional council into a private holding.Between December 2023 and 2024, Abraham Lomotey, the traditional council's representative, briefly assumed the chairmanship and began implementing transparent accounting practices.

Revenue apportionment records from this period show total monthly revenues exceeding five million cedis for 2024, with allocations for royalty, the development fund, and operational costs properly documented.However, Lomotey was subsequently ousted from the position. The official mobile money number for La Pleasure Beach was replaced with a personal number, ensuring direct control of all transactions.

Revenue records show that from August to November 2024, whilst monthly revenues continued in the hundreds of thousands of cedis, the development fund received reduced payments marked as "paying bank loan" rather than the full thirty percent allocation stipulated by court order.According to the rotational arrangement established by the Court of Appeal, it is now time for GTDC to assume the chairmanship.

However, Nunoo has taken over operations once again, continuing to run the facility outside the mandated structure.Nabi Adja Gasa, a director of the La Youth Association, expressed frustration with the ongoing situation. "The youth of La are suffering. We have watched millions of cedis pass through that beach whilst our development fund remains empty. According to the court ruling, GTDC should be chairing the committee now, but Stanley Nunoo has seized control again. What we want is for the place to go back to the traditional authority so that a proper way forward can be found.

Our young people need scholarships, they need skills training, they need opportunities. Instead, we have one man treating our community's resources as his personal property."A letter dated 2nd March 2023 from the La Stool Secretary to the Chairman of the Municipal Security Council and the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly details the ongoing crisis. The correspondence states that management has operated in violation of the Memorandum of Understanding, failed to account for stewardship since 2013, and actively frustrated attempts to implement the Court of Appeal's orders.

The letter notes that opposing parties are "threatening to use force to eject" anyone attempting to enable the new management committee, and requests intervention to ensure a peaceful handover and avoid "any breach of the peace."A High Court ruling on 27th February 2023 acknowledged "reasonable belief or evidence of a likelihood of a breach of the peace" and clarified that police assistance could be sought to enforce the Court of Appeal's orders. Despite this, implementation has stalled.Concerns have been raised about the impact on La's youth, who were to benefit from the thirty percent allocation to the development fund for scholarships, skills training, and economic opportunities.

The La Traditional Council, as allodial landowners, has similarly been denied their lawful twenty percent share of revenues throughout much of the beach's operational period.Observers note that in modern times, with functioning courts and law enforcement agencies, the persistence of such defiance of judicial orders raises serious questions about institutional accountability. As custodians of community resources, managers are reminded that they are not above the law and have a responsibility to operate within court-mandated frameworks. The dispute at La Pleasure Beach stems from complex governance and accountability issues in the management of community assets.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding and subsequent court orders, proper representation from all stakeholder groups is required to ensure transparent operations and equitable distribution of revenues.Stakeholders have called on the Inspector General of Police to deploy officers to ensure strict enforcement of court orders and end what they describe as an atmosphere of impunity where community resources are managed in defiance of judicial rulings and without accountability to rightful beneficiaries.The Lands Commission and relevant authorities have been urged to clarify the registration status of La Pleasure Beach and ensure compliance with all court orders to prevent the continued diversion of resources meant for community development.La Pleasure Beach, located in the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly area of Greater Accra, generates significant revenue from tourism activities, making the dispute over transparent management and equitable revenue sharing particularly consequential for community development in the area.