|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has charged the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Lands Commission and other land management agencies as well as traditional leaders to see to the vigorous implementation of the new Land Act 2020 (Act 1063), to ensure sanity and security in the administration of land in Ghana.
Addressing participants at a national symposium in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Bawumia expressed delight that a comprehensive document guiding the use and administration of land had finally become a reality.
“Today’s national symposium marks a significant event in the history of land administration in Ghana. I say this because, for the first time, a law on land administration has been passed to revise, harmonise, and consolidate laws on land to ensure sustainable land administration and management.
“The importance of an effective and efficient land sector in Ghana cannot be overemphasised. Every economic activity undertaken by man has a relation to land and, therefore, land remains pivotal to national development.
“The National Lands Policy, 1999, the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2017-2024), and the Ghana Beyond Aid Strategy Document (2020) show that a functional land administration system is a catalyst for development.”
In addition to harmonising existing laws the Act, which received Presidential Assent on 23rd December, 2020, provides for the repeal of 13 land related Acts, which in turn result in the repeal of orders/rules and regulations that emanate from these repealed laws.
Further, Act 1036 significantly introduces new provisions relating to customary land management, compulsory acquisition and vesting of lands, electronic conveyancing, and spousal land rights.
It also provides for stringent of jail terms for various offences related to land that are expected to assist in the sanitizing the land sector.
Recalling his surprise visit to the Lands Commission in 2018, during which he observed several, major challenges in the documentation and administration of land documents, Bawumia said government re-invigorated efforts to ensure the passage of a law which embraced technology to meet the challenges of our time.
“It is worth noting that successive governments have tried resolving the challenges in our Land Administration system, but these efforts have often come with various complications, and inefficient deployment of resources. Governments after governments, bank loans after bank loans, our fundamental problems in land administration persist, seemingly unsolvable, and citizens’ complaints get louder and louder.
“To address these critical challenges in the land sector and to optimize the contribution of land to the socio-economic development of Ghana, the Government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to change through the application of technology. Ghana can only make the much-needed strides in development when technology becomes the driver for all sectors of the economy.”
Source: Daily Mail GH
Email Daily Mail GH: stories@dailymailgh.com or
Whatsapp: +233(0)509928122
