Programme to streamline land administration launched at Ejisu
The Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL), has launched a social accountability programme for the Ejisu and Adankragya Customary Land Secretariats (CLSs) - both in the Ashanti Region.
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The CICOL is a research and advocacy network of civil society organisations and individuals working with communities, organisations and government on land-related issues, with backing from the Second Ghana Land Administration Project (LAP-2).
The programme was organised to strengthen and improve customary land systems in order to generate an efficient and transparent administration in land management in Ghana with the ultimate objective to create wealth and reduce poverty in the country.
Piloting
It is being piloted at Ejisu and Adankragya and is expected to bring about improvement in service delivery, transparency and accountability, ensure secure land tenure and land rights, and reduce corruption in the operations of customary land secretariats.
Ejisu was selected for the programme because it was a pioneer with regard to establishment of CLSs in the country and is also a place where pilot programmes in systematic land titling and other reforms had already been carried out under the first phase of the Land Administration Project (LAP-1).
Adankragya, near Asante Bekwai, is included because it is one of the newest customary land secretariats to be established under LAP-2. The two CLSs are required to provide a platform when experiences are to be shared with regard to both old and newly established customary land secretariats.
Launching the LAP-2 project at Ejisu in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, the Acting National Co-ordinator of the Lands Administration Project, Mr Kweku Sersah-Johnson, said promoting social accountability in the customary land secretariats was in line with the current global practice where planning processes were made participatory, transparent and accountable. He said these were key to all forms of governance and service delivery in land administration.
Funding from LAP-2
He announced that LAP-2 was providing funding support of $3.86 million for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to complete the assembly’s street naming and property addressing system.
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He said further that LAP-2 had allocated $ 2.56 million to the Judicial Service for expansion of the specialised land courts in all the regions and to build the capacity of judges and staff of the service. He said a portion of the amount would also be used to fully computerise and automate the land courts.
Appeal
Mr Kweku Sersah-Johnson appealed to the chiefs and elders of Adankragya and Ejisu to co-operate with the civil society coalition on Land for a successful completion of the project.
The Co-ordinator of CICOL, Ms Lilian Bruce, stressed the need for the general public to keep their land’s documents to avoid confusion and disputes, which constitute a major point of contention in land-related disputes.
She commended the Land Administration Project, and asked for co-operation between the people of Adankragya and Ejisu in order to ensure that the pilot project was delivered efficiently.
The seven customary land secretariats in the Ashanti Region are located at Ejisu, Bekwai, Foase, Manhyia, Mampong, Nkawie and Adankragya.