Land
Developers Flee Area, Blame Police Incompetence
The housing sector may continue to be a major bane
for the country as a result of the activities of
landguards who continue to terrorize land developers
in Accra and its surroundings.
One of the
worst hit areas of the activities of these 'land
terrorists' is Kasoa, a town in the Central Region
experiencing a fast pace of development for sometime now
due to its proximity to the nation's capital, Accra and
the development of lucrative tourist-attracting beaches
in several locations along its coastline.
Some individuals and corporate organizations who
acquired parcels of land in Kasoa to put up houses to
complement the efforts of government in ameliorating
problems in the housing sector, have had to abandon the
projects as a result of the activities of the landguards
who are bent on causing havoc to developers in the area
by either selling already sold lands to other innocent
individuals, preventing the genuine buyers from
developing their lands or demanding huge sums of monies
from land developers as a condition for allowing them to
develop their lands.
Mr. Kwabena Amankona, one of the victims of landguards
in the area told this paper that he acquired parcels of
land in the area about four years ago to put up what he
described as, "houses that would have been affordable
for the suffering Ghanaian workers," but has failed to
develop the lands not because of lack of money but due
to the activities of the landguards in the area.
"I have properly registered all the lands that I
acquired but anytime I wanted to commence work on those
lands, these well-built people would go and drive away
those I have asked to clear the land for work to begin.
They do not produce documents to prove that the land is
theirs but they will insist that they are protecting the
lands for some other people who they claim have also
bought the same parcels of land," he lamented.
He told the paper that at one point, a group of young
men approached him and asked him to pay an amount of
¢50million to be allowed to develop the lands. He said
he had reported the activities of the group to the Kasoa
Police on several occasions but no action had been
taken.
"You can ask anyone who is trying to develop land here
and they will tell you the troubles these people who
call themselves landguards are causing here. They do it
with impunity because when you even report them to the
Police here nothing would happen. In fact, sometimes I
am tempted to believe that the Police in this town are
condoning their activities," Amankona narrated.
Another developer who has so far put up a couple of
houses in the area but did not want to be named, also
expressed frustration at the situation and blamed the
Police in the town for condoning the activities of
landguards in the area.
He told the paper that after putting up a couple of
houses seven years ago, which have since been bought by
individuals, he had failed to develop the other parcels
of land he acquired as a result of the landguards who
consistently harass people who go to the lands to start
construction.
"I have to look elsewhere for my housing business
because over here, the town now belongs to landguards,
and the Police who are expected to control these lawless
people, are also doing nothing about the situation," he
said rather frustratingly.
Last week when The Chronicle contacted the Kasoa
District Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Mr.
Adalong in his office, he initially confirmed that there
was the problem of landguards in the area but later
said, " I won't even call the people landguards because
they are not people who use weapons to threaten
developers or people who have been assaulting developers
physically."
The District Police Commander told the paper that what
was very prevalent in the area was that a number of
stools in the area had engaged various young men to
protect their lands from being sold by other stools.
"We know there are people who are protecting lands
belonging to various stools and we Police do not
determine the ownership of lands. In as much as these
people do not resort to violence, we cannot have a
problem with them. But when in the course of that, they
beat or attack someone, then we can arrest them and
charge them with the appropriate offence," he said.
