Protect state lands for benefit of all

Land is one of the most crucial factors of production. For any development project to be delivered, both public and private, access to land is the key consideration.

However, given that land is fixed in supply and subject to the law of diminishing returns, it is important to prudently manage the scarce resource in a manner that does not deny the state of the land needed to deliver development projects to satisfy the needs of citizens.

The state has the mandate to deliver development projects in crucial sectors such as education, healthcare, transport and local government but the sustainability of these development agenda depends largely on the availability of land for the current and future generation.  

Currently, Ghana has a total land area of 238,593 kilometers square (km2) out of which about 80 per cent is owned by private individuals. The remaining 20 per cent, which translates into 47,718 km2, is public lands. However, 18 per cent of  public land is state land while the remaining two per cent is vested land.

What this means is that if the limited public lands are not properly managed, the ability of the state to meet the numerous development needs of citizens in the future will be detrimental to the country’s development.

It is in this regard that the Daily Graphic finds the Cabinet directive of July 18, this year, to all public institutions in possession of public lands to desist from selling or transferring them to third parties without authorisation from the President as a call in the right direction.

The cabinet directive emphasised that “no public institution, public body or public corporation (public universities inclusive) shall lease, sublet, assign, transfer, dispose of, or otherwise create any third party interest in any public land granted or allocated to that public institution, public body or public corporation without the express written consent of the President of the Republic, given through his Minister responsible for Lands.”

It is further refreshing that the Cabinet directive asked members of the public to stay away from entering into contract with any public institution for the transfer of land which had not been expressly authorised by the President.

The Daily Graphic understands that the directive by Cabinet is part of measures to protect public lands from being used for other purposes than those for which they were allocated to such institutions.

The Daily Graphic is aware that the action by Cabinet is legally rooted in Article 257 (1) of the 1992 Constitution which stipulates that “all public lands in Ghana shall be vested in the President on behalf of, and in trust for, the people of Ghana.”

We see this directive by Cabinet as an important step in public accountability because even as Article 20 (1) of the 1992 Constitution gives the State the power to compulsorily acquire any land or property, Article 20(5) of the same Constitution stipulates that any land or property compulsorily acquired by the State “shall be used only in the public interest or for the public purpose for which it was acquired”.

Again, we are enthused about this bold move by the government to protect public lands, especially so when there is the worrying situation where public lands and properties are sold or leased to public officials, politicians and politically exposed persons.

Currently, the political space is saturated with the discourse on the insatiable grabbing of public lands, with some political commentators describing it as state capture.

Particularly, the two leading political parties in the country – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are laying accusations and counter accusations at each other’s doorstep.

As the mill continues to grind on whether or not the acquisition of public lands by political figures and other powerful persons is right or wrong, we need to avert our minds to the fact that such lands are crucial for sustainable development.

The recent disclosure by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, that the government had been acquiring new lands to supplement public lands for development is good news and we encourage such a move to be stepped up.

For the purposes of accountability and transparency, the Daily Graphic associates itself with the call for the publication of the list of state lands since the beginning of the Fourth Republic.

We believe that this move will give a holistic picture of where we are in the management of state lands and the way forward.