Let me tell you before you ask how. Land litigation is quite common in Ghana. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a native or a foreigner, you can be a victim of land disputes. Land litigation can happen during the time of the purchase or even many years afterwards. Trust me, I did all the due diligence, took the extra precautions and even had my land title certificate. I will tell you about my experience. Hopefully it will guide you to avoid litigation when buying land in any part of Ghana. Because of the housing deficits, rapid urbanisation and increased demand, you can never be too careful about litigation.

Where?

Location of Wa in the context of Ghana

It was in Wa, the regional capital of the Upper West Region, a town with a population of over 120,000 inhabitants. It is the most urbanised settlement of the region. At the time land disputes were not even popular in this part of Ghana.

The Prologue

That was my first time ever venturing into the land market. It was in 2016. I had heard the many gory stories of land litigation, conflicts, frauds, multiple sales and the rest across Ghana. I had to be extra careful, I thought to myself. Let’s call the man from whom I was to buy the plots of land from Mr N. He had acquired those parcels in the early 2000s and was then sub-leasing. I did the due diligence, verified from the Lands Commission and the land was unregistered. From the Lands Commission, I also got the name of the family with the freehold interest in the land.

At the time, a friend of mine was doing his PhD on customary lands, and his scope covered the area where the plots were. So, I went to ask him if he had come across that family’s name in his study. His response was affirmative. With the double confirmation, I was confident that the family name I was dealing with was the rightful owner. The challenge was verifying who within the family was the rightful family representative. Don’t let your mind stroll. Mr N had introduced the landlord to me earlier, but without any additional evidence, how was I supposed to just trust him? I spoke with a friend at the Lands Commission again who confirmed that that landlord owned the lands in the area where the parcel I was interested in was.

The buying

Let’s call the landlord, Mr D. He was very lovely when my friends and I met him again to finalise the intending acquisition. Fast forward, I made part payment and started with the land title registration process. You may be wondering also why I made part payment. Read on.

After about five months of back and forth with the Lands Commission, my land title certificate was finally ready. Yeah, it can take even longer to get your land registered. The unduly long delays are part of the reasons why land litigation are common across Ghana, most especially in urban areas. By this time, I had also completed payment for the land. I guess you know now why I paid in stages. It was a security measure. When I received my land deed from the Lands Commission, I sighed rather loudly;

“Finally, you have fulfilled all righteousness. The land is legally yours now.”

That is what anyone will expect. The landlord was a friend by then. Did I tell you that the man, Mr N, who sold the land to me was also the friend to my friend’s neighbour? It’s a way of increasing confidence in land transactions in Ghana to minimise litigation—someone needs to know someone who also knows someone to know somebody.

Case 1

I was in the office one day when a friend called. I thought it was the usual chatter. “Kav, I went to your site today. There’s a building there, it’s even at lintel level. How come you didn’t tell me you were moving to the site.” Me, visibly confused and shocked . . . what!! like how? Oh! God of my father!! I had just woken up in my worst nightmare. Here is the thing, Mr N had resold my land to another person and asked that person to quickly build. This is one of the most typical forms of land litigation in Ghana. The trick is that by building swiftly, you will be sympathetic and not require them to pull down their house.

The Police

So together with some friends, we involved the police. The police may help with minor disputes. But Ghana Police helping solve your land litigation is not without costs. Anytime they came to the site for observation or any such purpose, you must give them water.

After a few weeks, the police took decisive action. I had all the necessary documentation to the land, that other man didn’t. The Police asked him to demolish his building. Let me tell you of a surprising twist. Mr N appealed to my emotional consciousness. Since the other man had developed, I should allow him to keep the land while they find me an alternative location. I was totally disgusted by his total lack of integrity, to say the least. How could he come up with such a suggestion when it was he who orchestrated this whole dispute. My story is probably beginning to sound like yours too. It’s not only in Accra and Kumasi that multiple land sales exist, but it’s also practically anywhere with sufficient demand.

Disputes happen to everyone; Building of the Nigerian High Commission in Accra vandalised

Well with the building on my parcel demolished I went into fence-wall my plots. I needed to act fast before another brouhaha. Between the time I was aware of the encroachment and the demolition took about one month and a half.

Case 2

Little did I know that the case wasn’t over. While on-site with my artisans setting out and excavating the foundation for the fence wall, another group emerged. This lone man approached on his motto bike, but quickly called other compatriots from his neighbourhood to join him.

Who sold the land to you? He inquired angrily. Let me not bore you with the details. The long and short of the encounter was that Mr D was supposedly not the appropriate family head to sell the land in the first place. Like I should just fall to the ground. The group ordered us to stop work and come and see the family. The land litigation this time was a family one. At that meeting, we were told that Mr D illegally sold that land and that they’ll allow me to keep one just plot. The other one they’ll either repossess, or I had to pay again for it.

After the meeting, I informed Mr D what transpired. He asked me not to mind them and to continue with my development. “If anyone comes to stop you, we’ll go and see the Wa Naa (chief of Wa)”. Even if disputes are resolved disgruntled parties can still worry your site. Don’t be surprised! The discussions at the meeting actually convinced me that Mr D was most likely legitimate. The other family group called him their elder uncle.

Going back to the site

With the little assurance from Mr D, we went back to the site. But each time, we were stopped and threatened. At this point, I was saddled between a rock and a hard place. You guessed it, I went to settle them. To put it into perspective, the total cost I incurred in this charlatanism alone was about the total amount I initially paid for the land. The thing is if you don’t pay them, they can destroy your developments on-site at night or harass you daily. This is my story, the story of many unsuspecting people. Many haven’t been lucky. The fear of disputes, litigation, lengthy judicial processes, multiple sales etc. have curtailed investments in Ghana’s land market.

Key takeaways on avoiding land litigation/scams in Ghana

• Register your land title or deed as quickly as possible, it is the surest way to secure the protection of state agencies.
• The land title certificate/deed may not securely protect your land rights, especially in areas of high demand.
• Develop some part of the land as an additional measure of security. This may be fence walling, planting trees, hedges, any form of physical presence on the site.
• Many people build without recourse to statutory provisions.
• Most lands in Ghana are unregistered. A title search at the Lands Commission (for an Indenture) or the Land Title Registry will only reveal legally registered landed transactions. Thus, a parcel not found in their database doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unoccupied or unsold.
• Fraudsters are not unknown people; they can be closer to you than you think. Watch this carefully.
• The Lands Commission only has records of registered lands, lands may be litigated but are vacant per their database.
• Local knowledge is critical. I can’t emphasis this enough.
• There can be hidden costs in securing your land title.
• Try as much as possible to buy from reputable real estate developers, people or groups. Find out from the community who is in charge of leasing to be sure.
• Do not make cash payments. Use the banks, you’ll have additional supporting evidence of the transaction.
• Never under estimate the knowledge of “illiterate” within the community people
• Finally due diligence. Obtain all the information you can get whether this is from locals, real estate agents, state agencies. This is critical. Do not trust blindly.

Map credits:

Eledi, J. A., & Kuusaana, E. D. (2014). Uncontrolled urbanisation in Ghana: a concern for food systems in the Wa Municipality.