LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES IN GHANA’S REAL ESTATE SECTOR [PART 5]: HOW THE ABSENCE OF MANDATORY SELLER CAPACITY VERIFICATION IN CUSTOMARY LAND TRANSACTIONS IS DRIVING LAND LITIGATION AND UNDERMINING REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT - AFRICA CONTINENTAL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION NETWORK

LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES IN GHANA’S REAL ESTATE SECTOR [PART 5]: HOW THE ABSENCE OF MANDATORY SELLER CAPACITY VERIFICATION IN CUSTOMARY LAND TRANSACTIONS IS DRIVING LAND LITIGATION AND UNDERMINING REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

Ghana’s real estate sector is expanding but it is expanding on a fragile legal foundation. Urbanization is accelerating, residential estates are multiplying across Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and other emerging secondary cities. Infrastructure corridors are widening. Yet land disputes continue to undermine housing delivery, infrastructure rollout and investor confidence.

According to the Judicial Service of Ghana, land-related cases remain a significant portion of civil litigation nationwide (Judicial Service of Ghana, 2023). Even more threatening is the LegalInk report that estimates that, land litigation constitutes about 90% of civil litigations in Ghanaian Courts (LegalInk 2024). It is against this background that, the World Bank has consistently warned that weak land governance systems increase transaction risk, discourage private capital and delay infrastructure delivery (World Bank, 2020). 

At the center of many of these disputes is one overlooked legal lacuna, the absence of Mandatory Seller Capacity Verification in Customary Land Transactions in Ghana. There is no mandatory, enforceable system requiring verification of seller capacity in customary land transactions before registration, and until that gap is addressed, Ghana’s real estate transformation will remain constrained.

But before we go into the details of today’s discussion, let me remind you that, the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network Ltd stands out as one of Ghana’s leading authorities in real estate solutions. From land acquisition, title registration, architectural design, general construction, property development, real estate investment advisory services et cetera, we provide a 360ºC service experience.

Ready to move from interest to investment, kindly visit the property page on our website, explore available properties and reach out to our team for a swift professional service delivery. With thousands of serviced litigation-free parcels of land across Accra and key growth corridors, we are uniquely positioned to help you unlock value in residential, commercial and industrial real estate. Now, let us go into the nitty-gritty of the discussion by establishing the structural context of Customary Land Administration in Ghana.

Structural Context of Customary Land Dominance

It is established that, approximately 80% of land in Ghana is held under customary tenure (Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, 2021). These lands are vested in stools, skins, clans, and families. The Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) and by extension the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana recognizes customary interests and provides mechanisms for documentation and registration pursuant to Article 257 and Section 1 and 2 and Section 12 to 18 of the Land Act, Act 2020 (Act 1036). The Lands Commission oversees registration processes, while Customary Land Secretariats were introduced to improve record-keeping.

However, while the law acknowledges customary authority structures, it does not impose a uniform, legally binding requirement that proves conclusively, before registration that a seller has lawful authority to alienate land. Indeed, it is true that the land registration process mandates a seller to sign instruments before the Lands Commission registers them.

At this stage, personal identities are verified, however, one at the Lands Commission cannot verify as whether the person/s signing these documents really have the capacity to alienate land according to customary land procedure. The two are not the same; identity verification is not the same as the conclusive authority or capacity to alienate land on behalf of the stool, family or clan and this gap has made it possible for family members to sell land without the consent of the stool, family or the clan.  

 As a developer and consultant of national repute in Ghana’s Real Estate sector, there were instances I bought lands and paid for it 3 times and in some instance more. This is what happens, someone sells land to you and after payment, another person or a group emerges claiming the land belongs to all of them as siblings or stool or family and was sold to you without their consent. They come with their terms which you have to honor. 

Even more painful is the fact that one can have as many as 3, 4 or even more people or groups coming later on to claim their portion of the sale.

One would argue that why pay the subsequent claimants whilst you have the land registered already, the challenge is this, if you don’t settle it properly with them, you may end up keeping the title of the land, but you cannot possess/ develop the land. They will station land guards on the land and make sure nobody steps on the land. This is how serious the situation is in the real estate sector and in my opinion, these reforms to bridge this gap is long overdue and has to be treated with the urgency that it deserves.

The Development Consequences

The absence of mandatory seller capacity verification has real economic consequences that includes but not limited to the following:

Multiple Sales and Competing Claims: Unverified authority enables different individuals to sell the same parcel in multiple times.

Stalled Real Estate Projects: Developers face injunctions and financing delays where authority to alienate land is being challenged later on and this is a common phenomenon in Ghana’s Real Estate sector.

Increased Housing Costs: Legal uncertainty raises risk premiums and litigation costs, which are ultimately transferred to homebuyers. This is because; developers will have to price properties in such a way that all these costs will have to be recovered and after that, a profit margin will then be added.

Urban Planning Disruptions: Planning authorities struggle to enforce zoning where land ownership authority is disputed. This is partly the reason why planning and zoning regulations are disregarded. In some instances, these multiple owners try to develop the land faster in order to possess it. In so doing, they disregard zoning and urban planning regulations, and most times, develop without building permit at the blind side of the local Assemblies. Many do these developments at unconventional hours (most often, mid nights) and before it is checked, many unauthorized developments all over the area.

Infrastructure Delays: Public acquisition for roads, rail, water systems and energy corridors becomes contested when customary authority is unclear. This leads to high cost on public infrastructure because government will later have to demolish these illegal structures and compensate people just to make way for this public infrastructure to be built.

Land guard Menace: The multiple claims and title insecurity occasioned by this seller authority gap breeds the land guard menaces that is terrorizing everyone including innocent professionals who are sometimes contracted to work on these keenly contested lands around our urban centers.

In fact, the absence of mandatory seller capacity verification does not only affect private buyers, it affects national development planning and undermines general market integrity.

Our Proposed Practical Reform Framework

To move from theory to implementation, Ghana requires a structured and enforceable system that is a Mandatory Seller Capacity Certification Framework (MSCCF) that can be adopted through legislative amendment or regulatory directive.

Establish a Statutory Requirement: Amend the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) to include a new provision: “No customary land transaction shall be registered unless accompanied by a Seller Capacity Certificate issued in accordance with prescribed regulations.” This makes capacity verification a precondition to registration. The breakdown of this framework is discussed in detail below.

Creation of a Seller Capacity Certificate (SCC): A standardized national document to be issued by the Customary Land Secretariat and validated by the Lands Commission. The certificate must contain, identification of land (site plan reference, coordinates), nature of customary interest, identity of lawful custodians, evidence of required consent (elders, principal family members etc). In addition, this must also contain a resolution authorizing sale, biometric ID verification of the signatories and a QR-coded digital authentication. This transforms oral authority into documented, verifiable authority.

Digital Customary Authority Registry (DCAR): Develop a centralized digital database hosted by the Lands Commission listing, recognized customary land custodians, registered family heads, stool/skin representatives, principal elders authorized to consent to alienation. This registry should be publicly searchable. This will make the process transparent and reduce the prevalence land fraud.

Structured Consent Protocol: For different land categories, stool/skin land, a written concurrence of elders, recorded customary council resolution, secretariat endorsement verifiable by the Lands Commission etc.

Family Land: Awritten consent of principal members, meeting minutes attached verification of lineage authority. Each consent must be documented before issuance of the Seller Capacity Certificate and all must be verifiable by the Lands Commission.

Pre-Registration Authority Audit: Before registration, the Lands Commission must verify certificate authenticity, cross-check digital registry and confirms no prior conflicting transaction exists. The implementation will be such that, it is only after clearance that the registration process can proceed.

Enforcement and Sanctions: Introduce a criminal statutory penalty for selling land without authority.  Forging customary consent, issuing fraudulent certificates etc. Other sanctions should include administrative fines and blacklisting perpetrators from future land transactions. Without enforcement, reforms fail; suffice to say, after all these, if we don’t enforce the law, everything becomes an exercise of futility.

Transitional Implementation Plan: To avoid disruption, it is my recommendation that, this process be piloted in phases, Phase 1 in the Greater Accra Region, Phase 2 in the Ashanti Region, Phase 3 in the Western Region etc. After this, we can then do a policy evaluation to see if it served its purpose, advise refinement if any and finally deploy a national rollout alongside a full digitization and public portal integration. But it is important to also add that, capacity building for Customary Land Secretariats must accompany this rollout in order to have a smooth implementation takeoff.

Establish a Land Litigation Fast-track Courts: This will be a dedicated Court of Law for only land litigation. This will be done in all the 16 administrative regions of Ghana, and these Courts must be resourced adequately to deal with the decade’s long backlog of land litigation cases that have already locked up investor hard earned capital.

Expected Development Impact

If implemented effectively, the framework would, reduce land litigation, improve investor confidence, strengthen mortgage financing reliability, lower development risk premiums and costs, enhance urban planning control, accelerate infrastructure acquisition, support orderly spatial development. In short, it will convert this current legal uncertainty into structured and reliable governance system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, land governance reform is not paperwork, it is economic transformation. Where seller authority is uncertain, capital hesitates, where seller capacity verification is optional, risk multiplies and where disputes proliferate, development slows. Therefore, Mandatory Seller Capacity Certification is not a bureaucratic expansion; it is regulatory modernization that is not optional under this circumstance. If Ghana is serious about professionalizing its real estate sector, stabilizing urban growth and accelerating infrastructure delivery, this reform is foundational and now is the time. Finally, in the event policymakers and stakeholder needs more insights regarding these reforms, I am available to give a comprehensive consultancy on this for a competitive rate.

References

• Government of Ghana. (2020). Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036). https://ir.parliament.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/1875/LAND%20ACT%202020.pdf
• Judicial Service of Ghana. (2023). Annual Report. https://judicial.gov.gh
• Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. (2021). Land Administration Policy Documents. https://mlnr.gov.gh
• World Bank. (2020). Land Governance Assessment Framework. https://www.worldbank.org
• Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. (1992). Article 257 – Public Lands and Other Public Property. Chapter Twenty-One: Lands and Natural Resources. Available at: https://kasante1.github.io/constitutionofghana1992plus/Chapter%20Twenty-One/ (Accessed: March 2026).
• Legal Ink. (2024, May 8). Approximately 90% of Ghanaian court cases relate to land disputes. Available at: https://www.legalinkonline.com/approximately-90-of-ghanaian-court-cases-relate-to-land-disputes/  (Accessed: March 2026).
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About Author

Daniel Kontie is a young enthusiastic Ghanaian Entrepreneur, the Executive Chairman of the Africa Infrastructure Group; comprising the Africa Continental Engineering & Construction Network Ltd (ACECN), Falcon 48 Developers; Africa Infrastructure Energy and Africa Land Banking Investment Ltd. All these are infant establishments, disrupting the conventional way of brand building across the African Continent. Daniel is a columnist, a writer and a member of the Ghana Built Environment Writers Association. He can be contacted via Tel: +233209032280; Email: d.kontie@acecnltd.com; Website: https://acecnltd.com/