The multi-stakeholder groups gathered for this year’s National Land Conference have concluded among other resolutions that government must consider improving the quality of housing for the country’s poor amid efforts by the state to address its current housing deficit.
Drawn from academia, civil society, the chieftaincy system, public and private sector land professionals and government representatives, the stakeholders resolved to set up a monitoring platform following the conference.
It is expected that the multi-stakeholder platform, involving all the key stakeholders of the land and other natural resource sectors, will be responsible for monitoring implementation of the conference’s recommendations and the land sector’s transformation agenda.
It will also provide support to government in the efforts to implement provisions of the Land Act and Land Use and Spatial Planning Act to improve functioning in the land sector.
In a communique issued after the 4-day engagement in Accra, participants noted that the National Land Policy of Ghana – launched in 1999 – has been used for reforms of the sector but is now being overtaken by several emerging challenges.
Also, they noted that the weak enforcement of laws on spatial planning and land development, land tenure and poor collaboration among government agencies has led to haphazard and uncoordinated spatial development, as well as poorly-resourced public and customary land sector entities.
On the back of these issues, among others, it was recommended for government to prioritise systematic surveying and mapping of customary and state land boundaries and the boundaries of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
This will hopefully reduce the country’s numerous land ownership disputes while setting out a comprehensive programme for the registration of title in land as mandated by the 1992 constitution and Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).
They also called on government to comprehensively map the country at large, medium and small scale to facilitate land use planning and spatial development for rapid economic development; and provide resources for a holistic and participatory approach to land use planning.
Also among the recommendations was a need to create seamless collaboration between landowners and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). It is hoped that they will commit more funds from their internally generated funds to spatial planning and development.
Addressing participants at the conference’s closing ceremony, Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, said the report emanating from this conference will inform the ministry in its efforts to make land administration more transparent and efficient.
“The next step for the ministry is to continually coordinate and facilitate implementation of the recommendations from this conference. We will immediately commence steps to establish a multi-stakeholder platform to monitor implementation of the conference’s recommendations,” he added.
In implementing the proposed solutions, he said government alone cannot do it; and will therefore require concerted efforts from everyone.
National Chairman of the Lands Commission Alex Quaynor assured that all information gathered from their deliberations at the conference will be used to review the 1999 land policy and bring out concrete plans to be put into action.
The National Land Conference was organised by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with the Lands Commission, Department of Land Economy of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and Colandef – a civil society organisation.
