The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has spoken out against the erroneous and multiple selling of lands by chiefs and others who lack authority and are labelled as “land guards.”
He bemoaned the country’s lands being taken over by clans, skins, stools, and families, saying the situation has hampered development.
The President proposed that a consensus be formed to check land administration and that a new model be developed to combat the threat.
“Unfortunately, in our urban areas, the customary lands system has been the bane of most of our problems such as the double sale of lands, wrongful sale of lands by people without capacity, multiple claims to lands by different stools, skins, clans or families among others. We must take a critical look at our land administration and develop a model that works for us,” the President said during the maiden edition of the National Land Conference in Accra, on December 7, 2022.”
The President expressed hope that the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) will produce some positive results, ensuring that land guards and some chiefs’ activities involving the sale of multiple lands will be stopped.
“But laws, in themselves, do not resolve problems. It is their application and effective implementation that yield the requisite results. That is why this conference, which brings together diverse people from different sectors to deliberate on the nexus between land and socio-economic development, is so crucial”.
“Fortunately, the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), provides a strong foundation for fashioning out a workable and efficient land administration. The Act has far-reaching provisions which, if implemented, will go a long way to build the effective land administration we desire,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
He stated that the country cannot provide efficient land administration if land documents must be processed manually, and thus charged the Lands Commission to expedite action on the digitisation of land acquisition.
“We cannot deliver an efficient land administration if documents on land have to be processed manually. We must, therefore, expedite action on the digitalisation process, and ensure that the Commission goes fully digital. As you go into technical discussions, it is my hope that this will be key on your agenda,” he added.
The President went on to say that the Land Act “addresses the challenges associated with boundary demarcation, and clarifies rights and interests in land, and persons with capacity to alienate land.”
Adding that it will provide stringent jail terms for various offences related to lands, such as landguardism, falsification of records and fraudulent transactions in land administration.
