Land guards to serve 5 to 15 years in jail

The Lands Commission has said it will fully implement the Land Act 2020 and its provisions.

The Act prescribes a minimum five-year jail term and a maximum 15-year sentence for persons acting as land guards.

Those who engage the services of same also fall foul of the law.

The activities of land guards have become a burden for many looking to acquire land, particularly in the national capital.

In the Central Region, for instance, over 2,000 salt producers say they have lost their businesses after they were attacked by suspected land guards at Dampase in the Gomoa East District over a boundary dispute.

Property running into thousands of Ghana cedis were damaged in the attack.

The salt producers have threatened to fight back if authorities fail to address their concerns.

Sanity

The Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, James Dadson, says the new law will ensure sanity in the land space.

According to him, sponsors of land guards will not be left off the hook as well.

“The Act has made it unlawful for anybody to engage in any activity as a land guard, and it is important to also note that if you go and sponsor a land guard or you recruit a land guard to engage in any illegality to prevent somebody from accessing his or her land, it is an offense and you will also be punished to a jail term of not less than five years and not more than 15 years,” he said in a media interview.