Stool land (stool property)

Much of southern Ghana is stool land. The stool, represented by the chief acting with the elders, holds the allodial title, which is the root of every other interest in the land.

What a buyer gets. Under the Land Act 2020, no new freehold can be carved out of stool, skin, clan or family land. An outsider buying stool land receives a lease. A member of the stool may hold a customary interest instead.

How a grant is made:

• Agree terms with the chief and elders, or their authorised representative.
• Commission a site plan and run an official search.
• Execute an indenture signed for the stool.
• Record the grant with the stool's Customary Land Secretariat.
• Obtain the Lands Commission's concurrence where the grant needs it, then stamp and register.

Stool land revenue, such as ground rent, is collected and shared through the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands. Customary payments to the chief, often called drink money, may also be expected; get receipts for everything.

Families within stools. In some areas families hold land within a stool's territory. Find out whether the land you want is stool land or family land, because that decides who must sign.

Stool land dominates in Akan areas such as Ashanti, Eastern and Central regions. In northern Ghana the equivalent is skin land. In Greater Accra much customary land is held by Ga stools and families, and in the Volta Region by Ewe stools and clans. Whether a particular area's land is stool, family or state land varies place by place.