Perhaps some people who matter actually want unclear property rights?

Chris Blattman cites from a new book by Ato Onoma on the politics of property rights in Africa:

Muntari’s response was unsettling. He claimed that, after working with chiefs for seventeen years, he had come to the conclusion that chiefs did not want clear boundaries, functional property registers, and an environment devoid of disputes. He argued that the chiefs would sabotage any effort to provide these features. According to Muntari, in the absence of such mechanisms, cash-strapped, land-hungry chiefs could conveniently “mistakenly” allocate the lands of neighboring chiefs or sell land that their ancestors had sold earlier. Further, where tenants engaged in subversive political behavior, chiefs could conveniently award their rights to more loyal subjects…

Simply put, chiefs did not want property rights security.

The quote is from Ghana but sounds like something that could be true elsewhere too. It is a useful reminder that if we start with an assumption that everyone wants clarity, well defined property rights and no conflict, we may be naive. That may not be how local politics work.