Resistance Against the World Bank-funded Kwabenya Landfill Project in Accra: The Battle of the Agyemankata Community for Environmental Justice and Against Eviction

The article reconstructs the successful struggle of the Agyemankata community against the Kwabenya landfill project in Accra, Ghana, which lasted from 2001 to 2010. Situating itself in the literature on displacement, it asks which factors led to this success. Investigating the correspondence and newspaper articles regarding the resistance, we conclude that the main factors include an uncompromising stance against relocation and compensation coupled with a principled refusal to be coopted; an active media and communication strategy focused on the rule of law, democracy, human rights, and environmental protection; and the support of independent experts. The article further argues that the authorities made mistakes that played into the protesters’ hands.