By Bright Ntramah
President Akufo-Addo has called for a critical look at Ghana’s land administration system and the development of a model that really works.
Speaking at the maiden Land Conference in Accra, the President noted that the Customary system of Land Ownership has been the bane of most problems in Land Administration.
He, therefore, directed the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to implement the Land Act, 2020 which has the strong foundation for fashioning out workable and efficient land administration.
The implementation of the Act the President said, will go a long way to build the effective Land Administration for Ghana.
The Conference is a multistakeholder platform for policy dialogue on land issues and challenges and propose recommendations to the government for addressing them. It will also provide opportunity for discussion and adoption of innovative approaches and enabling technologies for improving land governance and land administration in the country and increase public awareness and potential benefits of the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) and the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925).
President Akufo-Addo charged the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, together with all its stakeholders, to expedite actions on the processes expected to lead to the full digitalization of the Lands Commission to stop the manual administration of Lands in the country.
President Akufo-Addo said it is unacceptable for Ghana to continue to process Lands manually in this age of technology.
“In this age of technology, it is unacceptable that we still operating in a largely manual environment. We cannot deliver an efficient land administration if documents on land have to be processed manually,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“We must therefore expedite action on the digitalization process and ensure that the Commission goes fully digital,” President Akufo-Addo told attendees of the Conference.
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, noted that, his Ministry recognizes the urgent need to ensure that Land Administration is fully digitalized to make the process efficient and corruption free.
