The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said Ghana can only make the much-needed strides in development when technology becomes the driver for all sectors of the economy, especially in the administration of land.
Speaking at a national symposium organised by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with other land use administrators in Accra on 23rd June, 2021 Dr Bawumia emphasised the key role digitization is expected to play in the implementation of the new Land Act to ensure sanity and security in land administration.
“The importance of an effective and efficient Land Sector in Ghana cannot be overemphasized. Every economic activity undertaken by man has a relation to land and, therefore, land remains pivotal to National Development”.
Dr. Bawumia explained that successive Governments have tried resolving the challenges in the Land Administration system, but these efforts for him, have often come with various complications, and inefficient deployment of resources. “It is for this reason Governments after governments, bank loans after bank loans, our fundamental problems in land administration persist, seemingly unsolvable, and citizens’ complaints get louder and louder” he said.
He noted that, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to change the narrative through the application of technology in order to address the critical challenges in the land sector and to optimize the contribution of land to the socio-economic development of Ghana.
“Therefore, as part of the digitization agenda of the Government, I have established in my office a Liaison Unit which is fervently working to assist the Lands Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in expediting the digitization of its processes.”
Dr. Bawumia has also expressed excitement that the Electronic Conveyancing, which can only be realized by establishing a robust digitized land sector agency, has been incorporated in the Land Act, adding that digitizing the land registry will address the issues of multiple titles issued for the same parcel of land, missing documents and other matters bedeviling the administration of land in Ghana.
Dr Bawumia reiterated the importance of private sector participation in collaborative land administration, especially in the injection of capital and technical know-how in targeting specific key improvements in the infrastructure and operations of the Lands Commission. This participation, he stressed, would go a long way in improving efficiency and increasing the internally generated resources.
Reminding participants that laws in themselves do not resolve problems, Dr Bawumia charged all stakeholders, including the Ministry, Lands Commission, Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and traditional authorities to ensure the application of the laws and their effective implementation to achieve the desired changes in the land sector.
