Another park has gone.
Another wetland has been filled.
Another school field has been fenced and sold. It is happening in Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani, Tamale, and in almost every growing district.
Public land meant for children to play, for water to drain, and for communities to breathe is being converted into private shops, houses and fuel stations.
The Local Government Service Association of Physical Planners (LoGSAPP) has now said what the law has said for years: it is illegal. And it must stop.
In a statement signed by its National President, Gifty Nyarko, LoGSAPP reminded all of us that under the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925), only Parliament could approve the rezoning of public spaces.
Not the metropolitan, municipal, district assembly (MMDA).
Not a chief. Not a family head. Not a developer.
If you do it without Parliament, the law says it is invalid. A court can declare it so.
Section 93(4) of Act 925 is unambiguous. District spatial planning committees can consider general land use applications.
But when the land is a public space — a park, playground, school ground, market, lorry park, road reservation, wetland, floodplain, green belt, cemetery, or any land reserved in an approved structure plan or local plan — parliamentary approval is mandatory.
This applies “irrespective of whether the land is stool, skin, family, private, vested or public land” once it has been designated as a public space in an approved plan.
In plain language: once the plan says “this is for the public,” you cannot change it in a back room meeting.
Yet that is exactly what is happening.
Public spaces held in trust by the assemblies are being allocated, sold, leased or converted.
The result is what we see every rainy season: floods, because drains and wetlands were built on.
Heat, because trees and open spaces were paved over.
Traffic, because road reservations disappeared.
This is not just about maps and zoning. It is about survival.
Wetlands and floodplains absorb rain.
When we build on them, the water goes into homes.
The floods we experienced in Accra and other cities this year are a direct bill for this illegality.
Parks, green belts, and open spaces reduce heat and provide clean air.
Without them, our cities become ovens.
School and hospital grounds are for expansion.
Market grounds and lorry parks are for commerce.
When they are sold, services collapse and congestion gets worse.
When citizens see a playground become a hotel overnight, they lose faith in planning, in assemblies, and in the rule of law.
The problem is not the absence of legislation.
We have Act 925.
The problem is weak enforcement, political interference, poor appreciation of the law, illegal land transactions, poor record keeping, and the failure of institutions to enforce approved plans.
The law gives clear roles.
It is time we played them.
Any purported rezoning without parliamentary approval “may be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
That means demolitions, compensation claims, and wasted investment.
It means a developer loses money and a family loses a home — all because someone skipped the law.
Now we need action.
We need to digitise and publish all structures and local plans.
We must prosecute offenders.
Not just small encroachers.
Prosecute officials and chiefs who sign off on illegal allocations.
Deterrence works.
Recover public lands.
Where structures have gone up illegally on public space, the law must be enforced. Demolish, restore and replant.
Our cities are growing fast. Land is valuable.
The pressure to convert public space will only increase.
But a nation that sells its parks, wetlands and school fields for short-term cash is a nation mortgaging its future.
Act 925 exists for this reason.
Parliament’s role exists for this reason.
Planning exists for this reason.
The Daily Graphic cautions that protecting public spaces is not just a planning requirement.
It is a constitutional and national development obligation.
It is critical to climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, public health and the welfare of our children and grandchildren.
So, let this be the line we do not cross again.
No more parks turned into shops without Parliament.
No more wetlands filled without Parliament.
No more school lands sold without Parliament.
The law is clear.
The planners have spoken.
Now, MMDAs, chiefs, developers and citizens must obey.
Because our public spaces are not for sale.
They are for all of us.
