Law to regulate land acquisition and use in Ghana in the offing – Minister reveals

A bill that seeks to regulate the acquisition and use of land in the country will soon be introduced to Parliament for consideration and subsequent approval into law, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Peter Amewu, has revealed.

The bill known as Land Bill, 2018, when passed into law, will address the challenge related to the acquisition and use of land in the West African nation.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s forum on the proposed Land Bill, 2018, Mr. Amewu stated myriad of challenges confronting land acquisition and use in Ghana and expressed optimism that the new law when approved by Parliament and assented by the President, will bring some relief to Ghanaians desirous of owning land property.

The Technical Director for Lands, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Sulamana Mahama, commenting on the proposed bill told the audience that there is a provision in the bill which will confer full ownership to residents in settler communities such as Zongos who have lived there for 50 years or more.

“Those considered as having been assimilated into the community, they cannot be displaced because they have lived in that community for so many years. So, what we are saying is that anybody who has lived in such a community for up to 50 year or more should be entitled to own that piece of land he or she is occupying”, he noted.

The Ranking Member of the Committee of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, on his part called for collective ownership of the bill to make it effective when passed into law.

In his view, one of the challenges confronting the citizenry is how safely one could buy or acquire land in the country.

“I have made several attempts to acquire private lands and have always encountered challenges. If you want to buy or acquire land in Ghana, you don’t know who to talk to, particularly, the private lands. The situation is even worse for our brothers and sisters who live outside Ghana and want to acquire land and develop it”, he lamented.

Alhaji Dauda worried about this phenomenon, however, appealed to the experts in the land acquisition business to assist Parliament to come out with a law that will help address security of tenure.