Ghana: Land/Property Fraud - Causes And Solutions
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Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
OPINION
10 September 2008
Posted to the web 10 September 2008
Helena Selby
We brought nothing into this world, and it is evident that we will take nothing with us, goes a biblical saying. Man came into this world nude, with nothing to call one's own, however destiny determines what one is supposed to attain in life. It is logical that the level of prosperity attained by some people is different from others. This, people believe can be attributed to the fact that we all cannot be in power, there is the need for some people to be greater than others, and also to be in authority, to ensure law and order in our communities. Though people understand this principle of life, the question is do all the people understand, and accept the fact that we all are different, when it comes to wealth and power acquisition.
In Ghana, and many parts of the world, the level of prosperity and wealth is mostly determined by the material property one has. Owing to this people tend to struggle over land, in order to attain rights over it, so as to be counted among the class of well to do. This compels people to engage in land or property fraud.
Land and property fraud
This crime type can be defined as obtaining land or a parcel of land, or real estate that is owned by somebody else, through deliberate deception, especially for financial gain. The issue of land and property fraud, through falsification of documents, has been on the increase of late.
Land, being one of the criteria in measuring one's level of wealth, has been the foremost basis of conflicts in the country. This dilemma of land fraud/swindle normally exists in places of commercial activities where there is a large investment.
People, with the intention of safe guarding their property, tend to recruit, what are popularly known as landguards, who are reportedly intimidating residents of the area and especially developers.
In some cases the situation ends up very bloody, with fatal injuries, loss of properties, and in some cases loss of lives. In Ghana, places of frequent cases of land fraud include Ablekuma, Baatsona, Kokrobite, and Pokuase, all in the Greater Accra Region. Other places include Gomoa, Kasoa and some parts of Tema.
Kinds of land and property fraud
According to a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) press briefing report, some scoundrels, claiming ownership of lands in the identified areas, indulge in the practice of the sale of land to more than one person, and engage 'landguards' to protect their acquired interest, who resort to harassing and preventing prospective developers from working peacefully on their lawfully acquired lands.
According to Moses Amponsah, who deals in car spare parts, land dealers often sell a piece of land to more than two people, when they realise the new buyer is offering more than what they had already received from a buyer.
When this happens, to previous buyer, retrieving the money becomes a problem. At certain times also, when the seller realises that the sold out land has not been developed in a long time, they re-sell the land. This, in the long run, compels them to go into hiding.
Renting of houses to prospective tenants
Individuals, as well as groups of people sometimes go to the extent of placing advertisement on house rentals in the daily papers, and when prospective tenants respond to the adverts, they usually take them to their accomplices in the fraudulent houses rental business and dupe them.
A true story
A secretary of the Department of Co-operatives in Accra, who lives at Abossey Okai with her family, is presently a victim of property fraud. According to the secretary, (name withheld, somewhere in April, this year, she saw an advertisement in the Daily Graphic by an accommodation agent, indicating that he had a house to rent.
She, being in dire need of a place, decided to call the gentleman. He took her to Mamprobi, a suburb of Accra, and showed her the house to be rented.
After the meeting, she was directed to the alleged landlord, one Dominic Boateng, for negotiations.
At the end of negotiations, it was agreed on GH¢150 per month for two years, totalling GH¢3,600, as the rent. According to the secretary, she made a part payment of GH¢2,600 to the landlord, promising to pay the remaining within a week, and was issued receipt.
She later on went to the said house at Mamprobi, to inform the caretaker that she had paid the rent, only to be told that the house belonged to someone else, and not the said landlord, Dominic Boateng.
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