F.A. Global Estate Ghana Limited Boss, a Real Estate Developer, based in Zenu-Adeka, in the Kpone Katamanso District, Mr Adu Francis King has called on the Ghana police and its sister security agencies to work hard to eliminate the activities of land guards in the country.
The young CEO of one of the fastest growing Real Estate companies in the district and its surrounding areas said the police should put in more efforts to stop the continuous existence of land guards in the country especially developing areas within the greater Accra region.
Mr King noted that the continuous existence of land guards and their dangerous activities in the country was posing a serious threat to the Real Estate industry as well as hampering the industry players’ efforts of contributing their quota to helping solve the huge housing deficit in the country.
He said such acts of lawlessness and indiscipline on the part of individuals who under the pretext of protecting their lands without documentary prove or backing, mobilising young men and resourcing them with all kinds of offensive weapons to cause mayhem and terrorise innocent people immensely undermines law and order and must be dealt with accordingly by the police.
He furthered that land cases are fought at the relevant Land Management Offices, such as Land Title Registry, Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) or taking civil action at the law courts for redress and not the deployment of young men with dangerous weapons to cause havoc to innocent citizens.
“The endeavour to own a house does not only give the owner peace of mind but also serves as a worthy investment. The prices of houses, unlike those of other investments, appreciate and investors in the housing sector always have value for money but now putting up a house after acquiring a piece land has now become very risky due to the existence these criminal groups which must be eliminated immediately” , he stated.
He continued that people have always had it tough building on the land they acquire legally with the proper documents such as land title certificates due to the phenomenon of other people laying claim to same parcel of land without any documentary prove or backing. This, he said, must be addressed to give confidence to potential land buyers wanting to put up houses to lay their heads.
“Even when people buy lands with the right documents, it becomes increasingly difficult to build, as a result of the menace of land guards, who not only intimidate them but also attack them with machetes, guns and other offensive weapons. Many people who have acquired pieces of land through their sweat have had to abandon them because of threats to their lives”, the CEO furthered almost in tears.
Mr King, who owns over four thousand acres of land across the region, tasked the security agencies especially the police to step up their game to help deal with the menace of land guards in the society.
He noted that, although, a year back, the Police Administration set up a land guard squad to deal with the canker of land guards which was followed up with the establishment of the Property Fraud Unit at the Criminal Investigations Department to help address the problem of multiple sale of land and fraudulent land documentation but he was unconvinced if those two units are living up to their expectations.
“We at the real Estate industry and Ghanaians in general are yet to see the benefits of these two units, as the land guards still operate with relative ease and possibly with the knowledge of some security personnel. But I think, it is high time the security agencies, particularly the police, reactivated those two units and empowered the personnel to deal with this social canker’’, he underscored.
Mr King said armed the land guards do not only use those arms to terrorise land owners and developers but they also use same guns at night to undertake robbery and other violent criminal activities adding that “is my believe that we must all stand up and support the police administration to fight against these miscreants in our society”.
He also challenged chiefs and other custodians of land to desist from the multiple sale of land and adhere strictly to the laws of the land.
The F.A. Global Estate Ghana Limited Boss further urged the Lands Commission and other land regulatory bodies to sit up and do the right thing, as, more often than not, they provide the fertile ground for the land guard menace to thrive.
By Cletus Abaare
