Eunice Opoku, Senior Public Affairs Officer at the Lands Commission, has identified the lack of proper checks before land purchases as a primary reason behind the rise in land guard activities in Ghana.
In an interview with Sefa Danquah on Happy 98.9FM’s Happy Morning Show, she explained, “Ghanaians don’t look into lands before buying. They just buy it without any background checks, but you don’t just buy lands the way you’ll buy tomatoes in the market. You should be able to use about one month to check into the land you’re going to buy before making payments”.
According to her, many Ghanaians rush to purchase land, especially when they see it is undeveloped, leading to issues with land guards.
“There are processes one must follow before purchasing land. You have to be sure who owns the land, whether it’s for the government, a certain chief, school, or family but most Ghanaians don’t care. Once they see the land and are interested, they do everything possible to get it and pay for it immediately, and after payment, land guards start to disturb them, and it causes issues,” she stated.
She urged potential land buyers to follow proper steps, such as consulting a surveyor and the Lands Commission, which holds all land records in the country.
“The Lands Commission is the only government institution that has all land records and information one has to go through to acquire land, but because all these steps are always missed, it always brings issues. So people need to go through the right processes to get their lands,” she advised.