Aggressively pursue digitization of records – Akufo-Addo to new Lands Commission Board

• The newly installed Board members of the Lands Commission have been charged to optimize digitization

• Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said digitization will hasten the land registration process

• The move is also expected to curb the incidents of land disputes

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the newly sworn-in Board of the Lands Commission to aggressively pursue digitization of records.

This he believes will hasten the lands registration process and curb incidents of lands dispute.

Speaking at a ceremony to swear in members of the Lands Commission Board, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the deployment of digitization will further move the country away from an initial manual registration to a digital one.

“You must, therefore, work assiduously to ensure that the digitization programme works. Our target is to ensure that title registration takes a maximum of one month, and, I dare say, the Ghanaian people will assess the success of your tenure based on how far this objective is achieved,” the President said.

“For example, why should the same parcel of land be registered in the names of different people, when the same Lands Commission is responsible for registration? Why should documents or files submitted to the Lands Commission mysteriously disappear when the Lands Commission ought to be the chief custodian of such important documents? Why should it take years to register just a plot of land?” he quizzed.

He added that an efficient land registration regime will help towards building an efficient land administration and boost economic growth.

“Our quest to transform our economy, to bring about the much-needed development and prosperity, cannot be achieved without effective land administration. Investors will be frightened away if they spend good money to acquire land as a major tool for production, only to realise that what they acquired is litigation that spans years and decades,” he concluded.

The president on the other charged the board members of Lands Commission to efficiently management public lands or lands owned by the state or law.

The Lands Commission Board is expected to formulate and submit to Government recommendations on a national policy with respect to land use suitability or capability.

The Board is also expected to offer advise and provide assistance in the execution of a comprehensive programme for the registration of title to land throughout the country.

“We cannot continue with business as usual. We must pursue institutional reforms necessary to anchor efficient land administration. These must include reforms in personnel, processes and the working culture of the Commission,” he concluded. Read Full Story