Abstract

In Ghana, like in other Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries, land commands economic as well as social, cultural and political value. Access to land therefore becomes crucial to both government and farmers, given the rapid rate of urbanization with attendant increase in the commodification of land, redefinition of land ownership and tenure arrangements and contestation of rights to land. This study examine the accountability and legitimacy of local chiefs for land management. Using data obtained from questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions conducted in five peri-urban communities of Kasoa (a satellite town to the capital Accra) between March 2009 and March 2010, the study focus on cases of conversion of agricultural land to residential lands as a form of reverse land-grabbing in the selected communities. Accountability mechanisms are highlighted in relation to the extent to which chiefs legitimize farm land conversions with customary law; how these actions impact on their subjects’ livelihoods; and how chiefs influence existing state reform initiatives on land administration. The key findings show that while 70% of migrant farmers are more likely to lose land they acquired on arrival, indigenes are equally no longer assured of secured land titles due to an increasing rate of land sales by chiefs and family heads. This practice has largely exacerbated land conflicts in the area. Local controls on land administration by chiefs consist of checks on chiefs administrative powers through a council of elders. However, these elders have been corrupted and abuse their authority to also gain substantial income from land sales. Government and donor initiatives to enhance accountability mechanisms in customary land management, such as the Office of Administrator of Stool lands and the Customary Land Secretariat exist. But chiefs use various means to legitimize their community farmland conversions through, for instance, making reference to outdated customary laws, the adaptation to vagaries of rapid urbanization that is out-stripping the pace of town planning initiatives, profiting from increased attention of selling unused farmland, and the manipulation of the meaning of communal landownership, to foment conflicts in the area. The real losers in the communities are those with little or no employment options outside agriculture. Individuals who have benefited from conversions and the changing livelihoods are the chief or landowners, women and youth acquiring skills in building construction. It is interesting to note that women have been positively affected, though excluded from traditional forms of land ownership, but can access land based on their financial strength. However, prices of foodstuffs have increased as they are now imported from other areas of Ghana