THE LAW 101: Before you fly that drone

The arrest of three persons for allegedly flying drones over the EOCO headquarters is a useful reminder: owning a drone does not give you an unrestricted right to fly it wherever you please. Ghana regulates drones, legally, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), principally under the Ghana Civil Aviation Act, 2024 (Act 1120) and the Ghana Civil Aviation (RPAS) Directives, 2018, Part 28. The rules begin even before take-off. Prior GCAA approval is required to import, export, sell or operate a drone or its parts. The drone must be registered, and registration alone is not permission to fly. Part 28.7 is emphatic: “No person shall fly an RPAS without a Permit issued by the Authority.”