The government has been accused of engaging the services of land guards to reclaim encroached lands.
Information reaching the Independent Ghana indicate that Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Prof Patrick Agbesinyale at a Parliamentary Committee meeting on July, 10, 2023 provided the said information.
“I think the idea was that anytime the Government apparatus; the police, military among others are seen going out there to claim lands, you know the hullabaloo and backlash the Government receives. So, what they do is that you would set up somebody like this and Government would literally be hiding behind it so he can reclaim government lands.”
“So, I remember that during the claiming process, three people lost their lives.”
“There were gunshots; exchange of fire, and three people lost their lives there. Except that Gyato has a section of the media on site who would cover always – he is a whole set-up,” a male voice says.
Govt allegedly using land guards to reclaim encroached lands – Leaked audio reveals#INDNews
— The Independent Ghana (@independent_gh) July 17, 2023
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It is reported that the government then apportions some of the reclaimed lands to the land guards as compensation for their work.
The Chief Director is said to have also claimed that the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police procure the services of this same private land guard to protect their lands.
Addressing the media, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Lands and Forestry Committee of Parliament, Alhassan Suhuyini bemoaned the lack of commitment on the part of the government to combat land guard activities.
“One would have thought that with the passage of this law to outlaw land guards, our land tenure system would have been sanitized, and we would have all been hopeful that acquiring land will no longer be a matter of life and death and so it came to us as a surprise that the Ministry has resorted to contracting a land guard to protect government lands.”
“The other shocking revelation according to the Chief Director is that even the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police use this same land guard to protect their lands. So, if the military and the police cannot protect their own lands and have to resort to the use of a land guard, then what will be the fate of the common Ghanaian who wants to acquire land and is faced with land guards?”
“What was again scandalous by the Chief Directors’ revelation is that this particular land guard has a set-up the state cannot compete,” Mr. Suhuyini added.
The Vigilantism and Related Offenses Act, 2019 (Act, 999) criminalises such activities.
Clause 7(5) of the Act says; a person shall not directly or indirectly, engage a land guard to protect or guard the property of that person or any other person. 7(6) says; a person who contravenes subsection (5) commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not less than 10yrs and not more than 15yrs.