Aftermath of “land guards’” rampage. Photo edited to remove image of dead person. Photo courtesy of GraphicOnline

My friend’s brother-in-law was shot a few days ago.  I was with him when he got the call.  He was quite shaken, so I asked if I could go with him to the hospital.  Even though I’m not allowed to drive, I could at least be a distraction.  It worked.  On the way, he shared his thoughts on this situation.

While most of the land sales in Ghana are on the up and up, there is a very dark side.  Often people will sell land that doesn’t clearly belong to them.  These may be criminal opportunists looking to make a buck or in some cases, an honest family member who feels they have a legitimate claim to the property.  Some transfer of property ownership is familial here in Ghana, so a distant cousin may assert a claim, or just sell it outright.  Some plots have been sold up to 5 times or more.  Either way, the new “owner” feels the land is theirs.  Title searches are available, but not always used, which gives scammers an opening.  Real estate development is a tough and litigious business here.

The new person may sometimes hire “land guards.”  These are security people of unknown experience or training who are handed guns, a little money and told to keep people away.  In this case, two people were wounded and beaten, and one was killed.  My friend’s brother-in-law is recuperating.  They’d been harassed for a long time by these people and an injunction was in place.  The police seemed to be busy every time the injunction was violated…

The problem is well known.  I had been puzzled by the many fences with “This property is not for sale,” or “Property of… Permit 409” spray-painted on them.  Now it makes sense.  It’s one way for the rightful owner to warn people about the possibility of being scammed.  Sometimes it’s not enough.  There are cases of squatters moving onto property which has been uninhabited for some period.  The owner may have a nice house, but went to live in some other country for a few months.  When they return and try to evict these people, they run into difficulty.  Some owners have been brought to court by the squatters (and an opportunistic lawyer) to try to prevent it.  The judges not only agree to hear the cases, but there have been cases where the landowner has been forced to pay to get them to go away.  “Rule of law” is a bit murky in some ways here.

In theory, this law should keep people from trying to steal your land. In practice, not so much.

A warning – don’t buy this land from anyone!

If I buy another house, I’ll be real nice to the title insurance people.