The Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research Director at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) says the failure of law enforcement agencies to punish land guards has contributed to the increase of the phenomenon.

Prof Kwesi Aning speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Tuesday, said the unregulated individuals employed to protect lands in various communities over the years with the help of some people in power have evaded punishment.

“It is not just a bunch of gangsters who think they can challenge the authority of the state, it is because people located within the interstices of the state themselves allow these things to go on,” he said.

Prof Aning added that “when crime begins and it is not punished, it becomes accepted, that becomes the norm.

"When we talk about corruption but very little is done to punish the corrupt, it becomes as if it is just rhetorical. People then take it as part of their normal business. Landguardism has been spoken about as long as I returned to Ghana in 1999 and it is getting worse.”

He noted that because of how widespread and popular land guards have become some acceptable residents either hire them to protect their lands especially when state institutions fail to aid these individuals.

Prof Aning stated that as a result many have resorted to the use of violence to intimidate others, they connive with other powerful individuals to steal lands from people and also flout the laws. 

“There is a certain quasi-acceptability of the criminal enterprise because the law enforcement agencies take a long time to react, now when they react and they sue credible force then unfortunately we see the loss of lives,” he said.

Prof Aning urged the police to utilise their intelligence system to arrest and punish the land guards.

He believes the appropriate punishment meted out to them will serve as a warning to others to desist from terrorising communities adding that the investments of honest citizens who take years to complete their projects must be protected.”

“When agents of the state, become too frightened to do their work it becomes dangerous. Let us use the intelligence we brag that we have let us go after them, let’s use the intelligence, gather the evidence, put them before a court and punish them.”

This comes after the police shot five suspects during an anti-robbery and anti-land guard operation at Bortianor, Accra, on June 8.

Four days after the shootout, the police in a press release explained that the operation was done after they uncovered that the individuals had been terrorising residents and landowners in Bortianor and nearby communities.

They noted that upon spotting the approaching Police team, the suspects opened fire from their hideout, prompting the Police to return fire. 

The statement said as a result, five of the suspects were injured and later pronounced dead at a hospital. The remaining suspects fled the scene and are at large. 

However, following the report, some people called for a probe into the police's actions.

Abuakwa South legislator, Samuel Atta Akyea, says Parliament is right to call for an independent investigation adding that the security service has the requisite skills and training to carry out operations and investigations without inflicting harm or pain on civilians.

For this reason, he stated that the police’s justification for the killing is unsatisfactory and must be investigated.

On June 14, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament directed the House’s Committee on Defence and Interior, and the Leadership of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee to probe the Bortianor Police shooting incident.

Mr Andrew Asiama Amoako charged them to present their report to the House by the end of June 2023.