A Circuit Court in Akropong has ordered the remand of Freddie Blay, a former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), following his arrest in connection with a disputed property demolition at Kitase.
Mr. Blay, a prominent legal practitioner, was taken into custody on Monday, March 16, after police in Accra executed an arrest warrant that had been outstanding for nearly a year.
He was subsequently transferred to the Akropong Police and appeared before the court shortly thereafter.
The court has adjourned proceedings to April 9, 2026, and Mr. Blay is expected to remain in police custody until that date.
The case against the former NPP chairman stems from a criminal complaint filed by a landowner. The complainant alleges that Mr. Blay ordered the demolition of a house under construction on a contested parcel of land in Kitase.
Court documents, which outlined a timeline of events leading to Monday’s arrest, indicated that a report was filed with the police regarding the alleged destruction of property; however, prosecutors claim that Mr Blay failed to honour multiple police invitations to assist with the investigation.
Following the investigation, charges were formally filed in early 2025, but Mr. Blay did not appear for his scheduled court date in April 2025.
His absence prompted the court to issue a bench warrant for his arrest, which remained active until it was served this week.
However, sources close to the former chairman have pushed back against the narrative that he was evading the law. They insist Mr. Blay was completely unaware of the active arrest warrant until he was detained.
The sources argue that the underlying dispute is civil, not criminal. They trace the conflict to a land purchase in 1994, which they claim has been the subject of protracted litigation for decades.
Addressing the specific demolition allegation, the sources offered a starkly different account.
They maintain that Mr. Blay did not order the destruction of any building; instead, they claim he directed the clearing of a bare plot of land in January 2026.
According to this version of events, the clearing was a public health measure intended to prevent the overgrown plot from becoming a breeding ground for reptiles and other hazardous animals.
The legal battle over the land itself is ongoing.
While the complainant previously secured a favourable ruling at the High Court in Koforidua, Mr Blay’s legal team has filed an appeal, thereby keeping the title to the land in judicial contention.
