The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, has cautioned private developers, Chiefs and Heads of State Institutions who sell and encroach on state lands to desist from the act.
He made this comment when he inspected some state lands at Adentan-New Legon, where the Animal Research Institute is sited; and the Ghana Atomic Energy at Dome Kwabenya Constituency.
Speaking to Citi News, the Sector Minister said his outfit will sanction any officer found culpable.
“We are not going to allow the Trespassing Act to go like that unless the government decides to regularise the titles. The other option which is critical and difficult is to pull down those structures. But the Ministry and the Lands Commission will take a formal decision on this. The parcels of land that have been acquired by the state under Executive Instrument and the same parted to a particular institution should be protected by at least the institution that is occupying the land. There is this rumour that the institution itself is liaising with third parties to come and do construction. That is illegal and must be investigated because we cannot leave it like that.”
In July 2020, Parliament passed the Land Bill – a formal legal regime to guide and regulate land acquisition and usage in the country.
The Land Bill 2019, seeks to consolidate reforms made so far in Ghana’s land sector following the implementation of the National Land Policy (NLP) in 1999.
Chairman of the Lands and Forestry Committee in Parliament, Francis Adabor said the Bill aims at addressing long-standing challenges and problems embedded in the sector as it would better define land management and acquisition.
“We have several laws, including land title laws and its registration. These laws are going to put most of them together and with a few amendments in these laws, it is going to give security of tenure to those who want to acquire land. It is going to tell the chiefs and other landowners, stools, kings, clans and families how to manage their lands, the secretariat they have to hold and keep their records. All these are spelt out in the law.”
According to the Lands Commission, the regime would revise and consolidate the laws on land by harmonizing them to ensure a sustainable land management administration system, effective land tenure and efficient surveying and mapping regimes.