28/12/2022
Section 132 of the Land Act expressly prohibits the sale, lease and disposal of customary land through any other means apart from custom. The consequences of this is that any contractual agreement entered into to sell or dispose customary land would be void.
This can be used to serve as the legal basis to criminalizing the sale of customary land throughout the country. In order for this to be achieved, there needs to be:
📥 A provision in law that sets out certain elements that need to be satisfied in order for an offence to be established.
📥 A prescribed penalty in the law that provides for criminal punishment if the offence in the law is breached.
Given the foregoing, s.132 of the Land Act can be expanded to provide for the criminalisation of the sale of customary land.
📌 NB: I will discuss how the ILG Act and Konebada Petroleum Park Authority Act conflict with the prohibition in s.132 of the Land Act.
