Land guards have become central players in Ghana’s pervasive land disputes over the past 30 years. These unregulated security providers use indiscriminate violence to protect and enforce property claims by legitimate and illegitimate land owners for a fee. They also act on their own to extort land owners and developers. This paper analyses the profile, organisational structure and modes of resilience of land guards, despite their activities being outlawed since 2019, and offers options to address the problem.
About the authors
Ndubuisi Christian Ani is a Senior Researcher and Project Coordinator at the Institute for Security Studies’ ENACT project.
Theodora Williams Anti is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa, Ghana.
Feyi Ogunade is ENACT’s Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator – West Africa.
Image: ISS
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