24-hour economy will transform land administration - Legal practitioner asserts

A Land expert has said that the National Democratic Congress’ proposed 24-hour economy initiative would help transform the country’s land administration regime.

Speaking on solutions to Africa’s land governance challenges at a real estate conference last Tuesday, Dr Gad Asorwoe Akwensivie, who is also a legal practitioner said the initiative would have a positive impact on land administration in the country, particularly on land service delivery by the public sector agencies.

Dr Akwensivie said currently, there was a huge backlog of land registration applications pending at the Lands Commission, resulting from the long turn-around time for completing land registrations.

The 24-hour policy, he said, would enable the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands and the Lands Commission to clear the backlog of applications at the Survey & Mapping, the Public & Vested Land Management, the Valuation and the Land Registration Divisions of the Commission.

Applications 

He said some applications for searches and title registrations have taken more than a year to complete and that incorporating a shift system into the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands and the Lands Commission would also help to shorten the turn-around time for service delivery, enabling the public sector to serve clients better. 

“People won’t have to use “goro-boys” anymore because if you submit your indenture to the Customer Service and Access Unit (CSAU) and you are sure to get quick service, why would you use “goro-boys?

 “If the back offices work at night, it should be possible for some light documents and non-inspection cases to be completed within a 24-hour cycle,” he said.

That, he said, could lead to an improvement in Ghana’s ranking on indices such as the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, which is published periodically.

He added that it would also help improve the country’s competitiveness in attracting Foreign Direct Investment. 

Banks

Dr Akwensivie said banks would also benefit from a 24-hour economy to be able to advance loans quickly because loan applicants would not have to wait for one or two months to complete a certificate of search report. 

“Estate developers and professionals in the built environment, such as architects, surveyors, valuers, civil engineers, quantity surveyors and lawyers, who rely on the services of these public sector agencies can expect to render more efficient services to their clients,” he said.

Judiciary

Dr Akwensivie argued that as a lawyer, he believes a 24-hour economy would help to improve the efficiency of the judiciary adding, “When land administration is improved, conflicts resulting from indeterminate boundaries and ownership, among others, would be reduced, which in turn would cut the frequency of land-related litigation.