Lands Bill to go before Parliament

Page 55, May 12, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Koforidua
THE Lands Commission Bill aimed at integrating the operations of all public service land institutions under one umbrella is ready to be placed before Parliament for consideration.
The bill seeks to establish a new Lands Commission that will serve as a one-stop-shop for all land matters in order to secure effective and holistic land administration.
The Legal Specialist of the Lands Administration Project (LAP), Mr Kwame Gyan, who announced this in Koforidua, said barring any hitch, the Bill would receive Cabinet approval this week to enable it to go to Parliament for passage.
He was speaking at a four-day workshop organised to sensitise members of the Parliamentary Press Corps in Koforidua to enable them to adequately report on the Bill when it is finally placed before the House.
The bill proposes the establishment of a Lands Commission under which the Survey Department, the Lands Commission Secretariat, the Lands Valuation Board and the Lands Title Registry would be placed as divisions.
He said LAP was in the process of awarding a contract for an organisation management and operation studies to be conducted to ascertain the number and calibre of staff that the new Lands Commission would require when it was established.
“Staff of the various public land sector agencies, which will be dissolved after the bill has been passed, will not gain automatic entry into the new organisation,” he stressed, and gave assurance that adequate measures had been taken to compensate those who would become casualties of the exercise.
He stated that the present regime of land administration posed a serious threat to the achievement of socio-economic targets set by the country and gave the assurance that the Bill would become a time-tested law that would enhance the country’s land administration.
The LAP Co-ordinator, Dr W. Odame Larbi, said the project, which began in 2004, was scheduled to end by the end of the year.
He said, however, that an appeal had been made to the World Bank and other donor partners for a two-year extension to enable the LAP to complete its work.
Dr Larbi said apart from the Lands Commission Bill, LAP had also been charged with coming out with a National Lands Bill, that would bring together all laws on lands to curb the current confusion in the system.
He explained that if the extension was not granted, then the Lands Bill would suffer, since efforts were now being made to collate views through fora across the country for the drafting of that bill.
Dr Larbi announced that an office complex would soon be constructed in Accra to serve as the headquarters of the Lands Commission while another one would be constructed in Kumasi to provide office accommodation for the staff of the organisation.
Giving the overview of the project, the Planning Officer of LAP, Mr Issahaq Mohammed Jalaludeen, stated that the objective of LAP was to lay the foundation for the establishment of self-sustaining land administration system that was fair, efficient, cost-effective and which guaranteed security of tenure.
He said its long-term aim was to reduce poverty and enhance social and economic growth through the improvement of security of tenure, simplifying processes of land acquisition, fostering prudent land management practices, developing the land market and establishing an efficient and sustainable system of land administration.
Mr Jalaludeen added that the drafting committee of the new land bill had been formed.
He said through the assistance of the project, five new land courts, which were being constructed in Accra, would start operating in October to clear the backlog of land cases in the country.
In addition, an inventory of state acquired lands had been completed in some regions, while seven land registries had been established in seven regions to facilitate easy titling of lands.
The Communication Specialist of LAP, Mrs Ama Kudom-Agyeman, called on the participants to use the knowledge acquired to educate people about the bill.