Superintendent Kwabena Otuo Acheampong, Regional Crime Officer, Tema Police Command on Tuesday called on the public to be extra vigilant and carry out independent due diligence on lands they intend to acquire.
Some notable problematic land acquisition areas that the public should be extra careful about are: Prampram and its surrounding communities, Dawhenya, Dodowa, Ayikuma and surrounding communities, Apollonia, Kubekro, Katamanso and surrounding communities, Afienya, Gbetsile, Kpone and surrounding communities, he stated.
“Many State institutions, companies and individuals who purchased parcels of land from estate developers have either lost those lands or are being prevented from accessing their lands,” Supt. Acheampong stated at the Tema Ghana News Agency and the Tema Police Command security awareness campaign platform.
The GNA-Tema and Tema Police Command Security Awareness advocacy platform seeks to educate the public on security issues, including crime prevention, responsibility of stakeholders especially the communities and ignite a renewed sense of media and security collaboration for safer environment.
He said the command was inundated with reported cases of trespassing, harassment and intimidation on lands legitimately acquired from estate developers.
He said “the phenomenon is worrying and the police command is calling on the public to be extra vigilant and carry out independent due diligence on lands they intend to acquire”.
He disclosed that some estate developers who were aware of litigation and pending court cases on lands, go ahead and sell such contentious lands to unsuspecting members of the public, only to expose them to constant harassment and unusual intimidation from other people laying claim to the same lands.
Supt. Acheampong said the Tema police also received reported cases of individuals and estate developers who had the penchant of selling State vested lands to unsuspecting people.
The Regional Crime Officer said, “institutions and individuals who want to acquire lands are advised to engage the services of licensed surveyors to undertake due diligence for them before payments are made”.
He said the rapid expansion in the real estate sector was gradually paving way for some fraudulent activities of estate developers to fester, “and the phenomenon is worrying”.
He, therefore, called on the public to be watchful and conduct independent checks on lands they have plans of acquiring.