IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v120y2022ics0264837722002976.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Kidido, Joseph K.
  • Biitir, Samuel B.

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Kidido, Joseph K. & Biitir, Samuel B., 2022. "Customary succession and re-issuance of land documents in Ghana: Implications on peri-urban land developers in Kumasi," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:120:y:2022:i:c:s0264837722002976
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837722002976
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kasanga, R. Kasim & Cochrane, Jeffrey A. & King, Rudith & Roth, Michael J., 1996. "Land Markets And Legal Contradictions In The Peri-Urban Area Of Accra Ghana: Informant Interviews And Secondary Data Investigations," Research Papers 12747, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Land Tenure Center.
    2. Akaateba, Millicent Awialie, 2019. "The politics of customary land rights transformation in peri-urban Ghana: Powers of exclusion in the era of land commodification," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Feder, Gershon & Noronha, Raymond, 1987. "Land Rights Systems and Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Afric a," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 2(2), pages 143-169, July.
    4. Adwoa Yeboah Gyapong, 2021. "Commodification of family lands and the changing dynamics of access in Ghana," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 1233-1251, May.
    5. Agbosu, Lennox Kwame, 2000. "Land Law In Ghana: Contradition Between Anglo-American And Customary Conceptions Of Tenure And Practices," Working Papers 12796, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Land Tenure Center.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adjei-Poku, Bernard & Afrane, Samuel K. & Amoako, Clifford & Inkoom, Daniel K.B., 2023. "Customary land ownership and land use change in Kumasi: An issue of chieftaincy sustenance?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emmanuel Acheampong & Benjamin Betey Campion, 2014. "The Effects of Biofuel Feedstock Production on Farmers’ Livelihoods in Ghana: The Case of Jatropha curcas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Sumbo, Dennis Kamaanaa, 2022. "Indigenes’ exclusion from neo-customary land: A perspective from changes in usufruct rights in Pramso, peri-urban Kumasi – Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. Mintah, Kwabena & Boateng, Festival Godwin & Baako, Kingsley Tetteh & Gaisie, Eric & Otchere, Gideon Kwame, 2021. "Blockchain on stool land acquisition: Lessons from Ghana for strengthening land tenure security other than titling," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah & Clifford Amoako, 2020. "Planning by (mis)rule of laws: The idiom and dilemma of planning within Ghana’s dual legal land systems," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(1), pages 97-115, February.
    5. Mackinnon, John & Reinikka, Ritva, 2000. "Lessons from Uganda on strategies to fight poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2440, The World Bank.
    6. Cuffaro, Nadia, 1997. "Population growth and agriculture in poor countries: A review of theoretical issues and empirical evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1151-1163, July.
    7. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    8. Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2011. "Real Estate Agents in Ghana: A Suitable Case for Regulation?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 403-416.
    9. Richens, Peter, 2009. "The economic legacies of the ‘thin white line’: indirect rule and the comparative development of sub-Saharan Africa," Economic History Working Papers 27879, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    10. Elias Danyi Kuusaana & Nicolas Gerber, 2015. "Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Ghebru, Hosaena, 2015. "Is There a Merit to the Continuum Tenure Approach? A Case of Demand for Land Rights Formulation in Rural Mozambique," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211683, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Otsuka, Keijiro & Suyanto, S. & Sonobe, Tetsushi & Tomich, Thomas P., 2001. "Evolution of land tenure institutions and development of agroforestry: evidence from customary land areas of Sumatra," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 85-101, June.
    13. François-Régis Mahieu, 1989. "Principes économiques et sociétés africaines," Revue Tiers Monde, Programme National Persée, vol. 30(120), pages 725-753.
    14. Richmond J. Ehwi & Lewis A. Asante, 2016. "Ex-Post Analysis of Land Title Registration in Ghana Since 2008 Merger," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, April.
    15. Festus A. Asaaga, 2021. "Building on “Traditional” Land Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Rural Ghana: Adaptive or Anachronistic?," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, February.
    16. Akaateba, Millicent Awialie, 2019. "The politics of customary land rights transformation in peri-urban Ghana: Powers of exclusion in the era of land commodification," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    17. Barikisa Owusu Ansah & Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, 2020. "The Nexus between Peri-Urban Transformation and Customary Land Rights Disputes: Effects on Peri-Urban Development in Trede, Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-28, June.
    18. Guirkinger, Catherine & Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 2015. "Transformation of the family farm under rising land pressure: A theoretical essay," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 112-137.
    19. François BLANC & Richard W. MATTHEWMAN, 1995. "COOPÉRATIVES ET GESTION COMMUNALE EN ÉLEVAGE: Un aperçu cornparatif entre pays en voie de développement anglophones et francophones," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 253-274, September.
    20. Kandel, Matt & Anghileri, Daniela & Alare, Rahinatu S. & Lovett, Peter N. & Agaba, Genevieve & Addoah, Thomas & Schreckenberg, Kate, 2022. "Farmers’ perspectives and context are key for the success and sustainability of farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) in northeastern Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:120:y:2022:i:c:s0264837722002976. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.