Mahama’s 50-acre cocoa farm raises conflict-of-interest – Martin Amidu

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Makay
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Martin Amidu and President John Mahama

Martin Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor and former Attorney General, has said President John Dramani Mahama’s revelation of acquiring 50 acres of a cocoa farm raises a conflict of interest under the 1992 Constitution.

According to Martin Amidu, Mahama’s 50-acre cocoa farm and plans to acquire a hundred acres of land for palm oil for raises conflict-of-interest provisions in Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution and other penal provisions of the law on abuse of power and office for private profit.

It will be recalled, President John Dramani Mahama, some days ago, revealed he is a cocoa farmer, and his government’s decision to cut cocoa prices affects him too.

According to John Mahama, he directly understands the economic pressures facing cocoa farmers following the recent volatility in global cocoa prices.

Speaking at the maiden Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit and Exhibition on Tuesday, February 17, President Mahama stated, “Nana Kwebu Ewusi gave me 50 acres of land, and I planted cocoa on the 50 acres, so I am a cocoa farmer. So when the price is reduced by the government, it affects me too”.

“I want to be able to empathise with farmers so that when we take any policy decision, we know that it has an effect on farmers and we feel it ourselves. If there is no fertiliser or the price of fertiliser is expensive I feel it myself because I also buy fertiliser”.

President Mahama further revealed that he has acquired another 100 acres of land for oil palm.

“I recently acquired another 100 acres of land, and this time I have dedicated it to oil palm, so we have planted the oil palm”, he added.

However, Martin Amidu, in his latest epistle detialed that Mahama’s statement exposed the President as an opportunist who had hidden under the cover of the national democratic ideology of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He argued that the comparison made by Mahama rather flaunted his ill-got gains and profits under the colour of his authority as President of Ghana, rather conveys to him a sense of morality, legality, and justice.

Martin Amidu further called on Mahama to disclose to the electorate how and when he acquired the fifty acres of land on which he planted fifty acres of cocoa, adding that, in the public interest, Mahama must disclose to the electorate the consideration for which Nana Kwebu Ewusi gave him the fifty acres of land.

The former Special Prosecutor further raised concerns of the President acquiring fifty (50) acres of land to farm for profit and also his plans to acquire a further hundred acres for profit, as contravening the conflict-of-interest provision in Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution and other penal provisions of the law on abuse of power and office for private profit.

Parts of his statement read, “President Mahama’s performance in his address at what was termed ‘the maiden Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit and Exhibition’ exposed the President as an opportunist who had hidden under the cover of the national democratic ideology of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which he joined only in 1996 to pursue a property owning agenda.

The foregoing statements by President Mahama flaunting his ill gotten gains and profits under the colour of his authority as President of Ghana rather conveys to me, my sense of morality, legality, and justice the reason why President Mahama does not really care about the decision of his government to reduce the poor cocoa farmer’s farmgate price from GHc3,625 to GHc2, 587 per bag in the name of aligning with a volatile international market.

The comparison which President Mahama, as a cocoa farmer, made with the mass of the Ghanaian cocoa rural farmers who have sustained the cocoa industry over the decades does not demonstrate empathy, humility, and understanding. It shows what power can make of a politician who, just over a year ago, was soliciting the electorate for votes to allegedly enable him implement national democratic policies that will ameliorate the harsh conditions of the ordinary Ghanaian brought about by what was perceived as mismanagement by Nana Akufo- Addo’s property-owning democratic government”.

He further detailed that President Mahama became Vice-President and later President of Ghana between 7 January 2009 and 7 January 2017. Ghanaians restored President Mahama to the Presidency on 7 January 2025 as a sign of their revulsion against former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s eight- year grand deception which was acquiesced in by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) only to be informed on 17 February 2026 that President Mahama was on property acquisition spree under the colour of his office as our President contrary to the conditions of service provided for under Article 68 of the Constitution that prohibits him from holding “any other office of profit or emoluments whether private or public and whether directly or indirectly;” including on leaving office as President,

The President could not have acquired fifty (50) acres of land to farm for profit and intend to acquire a further hundred acres of land for palm oil for profit without contravening the conflict-of-interest provision in Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution and other penal provisions of the law on abuse of power and office for private profit.

It is, therefore, in the public interest for President Mahama to disclose to the electorate now when he acquired the fifty acres of land on which he planted fifty acres of cocoa to enable him to empathise with the rural cocoa farmer suffering loss of income. It is also in the public interest for President Mahama to disclose to the electorate the consideration for which Nana Kwebu Ewusi gave him the fifty acres of land.

Could the payment for the land be the several appointments President Mahama doled out to the said Nana Kwebu Ewusi over the years, including the current Chair of a public Commission? President Mahama’s declaration of owning fifty acres of land given to him by Nana Kwebu Ewusi raises the foregoing ‣onstitutional and legal issues for purposes of exemplary conduct as President of Ghana under the 1992 Constitution”.

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