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Multiple Ghanaian community groups and traditional leaders have petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to intervene in a widening dispute between Daniel McKorley's McDan Group and the Ghana Airports Company Limited, warning that the government's treatment of the country's most prominent indigenous conglomerate risks signaling to all private investors that their businesses are not safe.
The Coalition of Zongo Youth in the Ashanti Region held a press conference at the Kumasi Central Mosque on April 13, calling on the government to safeguard indigenous businesses and protect local investors. The group noted that McKorley's McDan Group had contributed significantly to national development, particularly within Zongo communities, and expressed concern over what it described as disturbing developments surrounding the reported takeover of the group's private jet terminal. Days earlier, on April 10, Ga-Dangbe traditional priests and priestesses led by Numo Ayitey Cobblah III marched to the Jubilee House to formally petition Mahama over the revocation of McDan Aviation's Fixed Base Operator licence at Terminal 1 of Kotoka International Airport.
A separate group of Ga youth staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the Flagstaff House on April 13, dressed in red and white, appealing to the president to intervene and cautioning that any action that undermines McKorley's business could have far-reaching consequences for the many beneficiaries of his philanthropic work.
The petitions collectively call on Mahama to order an independent and transparent review of the licence revocation, ensure due process and natural justice, and take steps to protect indigenous Ghanaian investments. The traditional leaders warned that the outcome could shape investor perceptions for years. "Today it is McDan Aviation, tomorrow it may be another Ghanaian investor," the Ga-Dangbe petition stated.
At the center of the dispute is McDan Aviation's eviction from Terminal 1, which McKorley built into Ghana's first indigenous Fixed Base Operator terminal after the facility had been left in disuse. Ghana Airports Company Limited says McDan Aviation owes more than $3.99 million and GH¢13,000 in unpaid fees dating back to 2020, a claim backed by a May 2025 High Court ruling that granted the state-owned airports company full re-entry and possession of over 16 acres of prime airport land. The 1am eviction and demolition of McDan warehouses near the airport drew sharp criticism from business commentators, with some drawing parallels to the 2017-2019 financial sector clean-up that saw several indigenous banks lose their licences.
McKorley has built the McDan Group into one of Ghana's most diversified private conglomerates. Its subsidiary Electrochem Ghana Limited has invested over $88 million to develop the Songor Lagoon into Africa's largest salt mine, currently producing 650,000 metric tonnes annually and directly employing more than 3,000 people. The McDan Foundation supports more than 300 university scholarship recipients, has donated dialysis machines to the 37 Military Hospital, reconstructed schools in deprived areas and provided aid to thousands of widows. Through the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge, the group provides $100,000 in seed funding and mentorship annually to young Ghanaians.
Mahama's office has not publicly responded to any of the petitions. The Mahama administration campaigned on a promise to protect indigenous businesses and end what it described as the victimization of Ghanaian entrepreneurs, a commitment the petitioners are now invoking in their appeals to the presidency.
