Land, a very critical gift of nature, remains one of the most contested and corrupt sectors in Africa, with devastating consequences for livelihoods.
Ghana and across the continent of Africa have vast stretches of farmland, forests, and grazing lands that are at the center of disputes involving governments, traditional leaders, investors, and vulnerable communities.
In this situation, where corruption seeps into land administration and allocation, the poorest, especially women, widows, and smallholder farmers, often lose the most.
It is on the back of this canker that Transparency International (TI), with funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), launched the Land and Corruption in Africa (LCA) Project.
In Ghana, the initiative is spearheaded by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), TI’s national chapter, which has been working since 2015 to confront the injustices caused by opaque land deals and discriminatory customary practices.
The Scope of the LCA
At the heart of TI-Ghana, formerly GII’s work is citizen empowerment. The LCA is collaborating with Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) and the Lands Commission.
TI-Ghana has provided grassroots women, including farmers, traders, and agro-business owners, with simplified guides on land laws, property rights, and inheritance regulations. These trainings have demystified complex laws on land title registration, succession, customary marriage, and divorce—helping women know, claim, and defend their rights.
The CSO has trained community representatives as paralegals, equipping them with skills in basic dispute resolution. These paralegals now serve as “first aid” legal service providers within their communities, bridging gaps in Ghana’s formal justice system. In 2016 alone, more than 1,000 community members were engaged directly in land governance and anti-corruption education.
The Impact
One of the project’s most striking achievements has come from Kulbia Village in the Upper East Region, where a group of widows produced a Participatory Video (PV) documenting how customary laws deny women their right to inherit and control land.
Supported by GII and InsightShare, the widows’ story captured the painful realities of women pushed into poverty simply because tradition does not recognize them as legitimate land custodians.
The video has reached far beyond Kulbia. It has been screened before more than 500 community members and showcased internationally at prestigious platforms including UN Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador; the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Panama; and the Cinema for Development Festival in London. For many of the widows, this was the first time their voices were heard on a global stage.
Influencing Policy at the National Level
Beyond community empowerment, the project has also shaped national policy. TI-Ghana has been consulted on Ghana’s revised Lands Bill, contributing perspectives that reflect the voices of ordinary citizens, particularly women.
In addition, GII is working to formalize cooperation between its Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) and the Lands Commission’s Customer Service Access Unit to jointly resolve land-related corruption cases.
Why It Matters
Across Africa, land corruption perpetuates poverty, hunger, and inequality. Each unfair land deal or discriminatory inheritance custom robs vulnerable people of their most critical assets, land and water. For Ghana, where women form the backbone of smallholder farming, the implications are stark: without secure access to land, development remains elusive.
TI-Ghana believes that by combining grassroots empowerment, policy influence, and international advocacy, the LCA project will slowly shift the balance. It is giving widows a voice, equipping women with knowledge, strengthening local justice systems, and challenging policymakers to make land governance more transparent and equitable.
