Lands Commission opens office in Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai
The Lands Commission has opened an office in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District in the Western Region.
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The district was selected because it is strategically located in the northern part of the Western Region and the Southern part of Ashanti Region.
The district was also ranked the 5th best district in Ghana in 2014 by both the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund and Centre for Democratic Development Ghana in the areas of health, education, rural water, security, governance and sanitation.
Significance
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr Jacob Oware, expressed the hope that with the opening of the office, issues on land administration that required professionalism would now be adressed.
He called for sanity in the sale and ownership of land in the area, saying the assembly would not hesitate to deal with persons or groups who would engage in the unlawful sale or acquisition of lands in the area.
The Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Dr Wilfred K. Anim-Odame, stated that following years of disputes over land ownership and poor demarcations, there was the need for the public to seek professional opinions on land-related issues. That to him would help avert the disputes and misunderstandings that often arise out of land demarcations and ownership.
He therefore called on land and property owners in the district to take advantage of the opening of the office in the area to seek advice before acquiring or selling land to avoid litigations.
Policy
He said in order to achieve effective land administration for economic growth, the Government of Ghana in June 1999 launched the first ever National Land Policy which primarily identified a number of problems and constraints in the land sector.
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The policy, he said, provided the framework in addressing land ownership, security of tenure, land use and development and environmental conservation.
Again, he said the policy provided policy statements to guide future actions by government in short, medium and long term to facilitate equitable access to land and guide its utilisation and disposal.
Dr Anim-Odame said for the past seven years, the commission had been working tirelessly for a new identity.
He said this was in line with the vision of the commission which was “to become a Centre of excellence for land service delivery”.
Title registration
He announced that there were a number of ongoing interventions within the commission that would help deliver efficient and effective land services to the people.
Dr Anim-Odame therefore called on chiefs and family heads in the district to consider devoting a reasonable portion of their annual revenue from land and land properties to undertake boundary demarcation and survey of their land for title registration.
“Ghana as a middle lower income country relies primarily on agriculture, forestry and mining for its economic development. And these three key economic pillars, which are largely land dependent, constitute about 70 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
The Western Regional Lands Officer, Stephen Oduro-Kwarteng, gae an assurance that the office shall serve the people well by ensuring transparency, integrity, diligence and the fear of God in the discharge of their duties.