98% of lands can’t be registered in Ghana - Owners at risk in disputes
Over 98 per cent of land in the country cannot be registered with a title. The situation makes it extremely difficult for purchasers to properly secure such lands, leaving them vulnerable in land disputes.
A Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Alexander Osei -Tutu, who made the assertion, explained that only the Greater Accra Region, some parts of Kumasi, Kasoa and its environs had been declared as registration districts, with the rest of the country not having that status.
He described the situation as unfair and a major factor in the incessant land disputes across the country.
Context
Land title registration provides an indefeasible title as it ensures a state-guaranteed title, but under the current legal regime, only lands that fall within areas designated by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources as registration districts can be registered for title. Those outside such districts rely on deed registration.
Criticism
The Justice of the Court of Appeal criticised the fact that although land title registration was introduced 40 years ago through the Land Title Registration Law, 1986 (PNDCL 152), which had been further inculcated in the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), more than 13 regions are yet to be declared registration districts.
“A prolonged delay for title registration throughout the country progressively widens the gate of land disputes as deeds registration under the law has the latitude of registering multiple instruments relating to the same parcel of land,” he pointed out in a yet to be published article exclusively sighted by the Daily Graphic.
He therefore called for the expansion of the registration districts to other parts of the country to provide people with a more robust mechanism of protection in the acquisition of land.
“Ghana needs to expand the registration districts, increase access to formal land registration, and promote awareness about the importance of title registration. This will help ensure that all Ghanaians are able to secure their land rights and build a more stable future,” he added.
Statistics
Giving statistics, Justice Osei-Tutu said the Greater Accra Region had an approximate area of 3,245 kilometre square, constituting 1.4 per cent of the country’s 238,533 kilometre square land size, while about 309 kilometre square made up the parts of Kumasi under the registration district, representing 0.13 per cent of the country’s land size, with Kasoa and its environs under the registration district making up of 56.732 kilometre square, representing 0.0238 per cent.
“In percentage terms, the land falling within the registration districts of the three regions is less than two per cent of Ghana’s entire land size.
It is worth stating that not a single registration district has been created in the remaining 13 regions of Ghana, so they all operate deeds registration. In effect, over 98 per cent of the entire land of Ghana falls outside registration districts,” he said.
Registration systems
The article titled “Land Registration in Ghana: A Tale of Multiple Registration Regimes” traces the historical background to land registration since the colonial period to the current dispensation under the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), explaining their weaknesses, as well as legal critique on case laws regarding the various systems.
Justice Osei Tutu explained that under Act 1036, three forms of land registration were recognised - title registration, deed registration and customary law registration.
He, however, explained that title registration offered the best protection as it gave an indefeasible title or state-guaranteed title, and did not generally allow for double or multiple registration of the same land or interest in land.
“Despite the guarantee that title registration in registration districts receives from the State, fraud and other vitiating factors, such as mistake and misrepresentation, tend to weaken the potency of title registration, thereby leading to their cancellation by the courts, as discernible from a plethora of cases,” he said.
Justice Osei-Tutu said title registration should be the bedrock of land registration in the country, as the law, backed by decisions of the Supreme Court, such as the case of Suberu vs Davidson & 13 Others had made it clear that, except there was evidence of fraud or misrepresentation, title in a property could not be defeated, cancelled or voided.
With regard to deed registration, which pertains to almost 98 per cent of lands in the country, Justice Osei-Tutu was of the view that it did not give such state guarantee, but rather gave notice of the registration to third parties, and could be registered multiple times; just that priority was given to who registered it first.
“Title registration may loosely be compared to a marriage contracted under the Ordinance (the Marriage Ordinance, Cap. 127), which is purely monogamous and secures the marriage from future intruders/suitors, while Deeds registration is synonymous with customary marriage, which is potentially polygamous, notwithstanding its registration under the law,” he said.
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