Customary succession and re-issuance of land documents in Ghana: Implications on peri-urban land developers in Kumasi

Abstract

In parts of Ghana, the position of a chief and land are intrinsically linked. The desire to control economic resources especially land attached to the stool or skin office, has served as an impetus for intense contestation in the chieftaincy successions in peri-urban areas. However, urban expansion has manifested in depriving successive customary land trustees or chiefs of revenues from peri-urban land transactions due to a growing shortage of vacant lands. As a result, several dynamics and strategies unfold when new chiefs are installed in the land market space. This paper examines customary successions and re-issuance of land documents in three selected peri-urban communities in Kumasi, where land is increasingly becoming scarce. The study adopted a qualitative survey design approach where data were collected from land developers in three purposively selected peri-urban communities in Kumasi. The paper finds that newly installed chiefs re-issued land documents such as allocation notes, site plans, and receipts to property developers as revenue mobilization strategies. The re-issuance does not seek to improve the old records but has more to do with the monetary incentives. The practice imposes a financial burden on the developers with non-indigenes paying higher amounts, undermining the previous chiefs' authority, and creating uncertainty and confusion in the land market. It is recommended that the traditional leaders led by the National House of Chiefs should develop rules and regulations to regulate how newly installed chiefs should deal with lands that their predecessors have already allocated. The study results also underscore the need for the chiefs to invest portions of 'drink money' they take from land grants to benefit succeeding generations.