In order to end land litigations between traditional authorities and land users especially developers and tenant farmers, the government has instituted a customary land secretariat through the administrator of stool lands in the country.

It is worthy to note that two traditional councils in the Western Region namely Aowin traditional council and Atuabo traditional council were to benefit from this initiative.

Delivering a speech at the inauguration of Aowin customary land secretariat, the Deputy Director of stool lands in-charge of operations Mr. Patrick Amoah said, land as a natural resource was fundamental to the very existing of mankind adding that it was the basic resource that defined the existence of man.

“The way and manner we manage and administer our land resource will set the boundary for our development, if we were able to foster a prudent land management system we are likely to have a wider boundary set for the development of the country,” he said.

He said despite the importance of land, the nation have not been able to exploit the potential of its resources for socio-economic development due to the numerous problems associated with land administration.

“The government has launched the Ghana National Land Policy which identified among others, the multiplicity of land laws, indeterminate boundaries of customary lands, inadequate security of land tenure, weak land administration system fragmented institutional arrangements with weak capacity, lack of consultations with land owners in decision making for land utilization and management, intractable land disputes have serious challenges in the land sector. These challenges have shaken land administration to its foundation and we are now experiencing unprecedented chaos in the land market arena, culminating into the emerging notorious phenomena of land “guardism” with its attendance brutalities,” he intimated.

 Mr. Amoah said, the problems of customary land administration coupled with the desire of the country to develop into upper middle class income level, informed the Land Administration Project to bring on board the establishment of Customary Land Secretariat in the various customary land owning communities.

“It will be promoted as part of the decentralization of land administration services for land owners and traditional authorities who were willing to make initial investment in office accommodation and basic office facilities under the ongoing land administration project,” he indicated.

According to him, the Secretariat will be managed as a sustainable business entity which would deliver efficient and transparent services to all stakeholders.

He said there was thus the need for the people and chiefs of Enchi to show ownership of land and commitment to the Secretariat to ensure its sustainability.

The acting president for Aowin traditional council and chief of Omanpe Nana Gyening II said, Nananom of Aowin would collaborate with the people most especially tenant cocoa farmers who work on their lands to demarcate, register and make proper records on their lands. He was grateful to the government for establishing, equipping and inaugurating the secretariat and making it first in the region.

Delivering a speech on behalf of the District Chief Executive, Oscar Ofori Larbi, the District Environmental Health Officer, Mr. J.A Frimpong said government was poised in delivering its promises to the good people in the country and appealed to all to help bring the better Ghana agenda to fruition.

“The ownership and possession of land carry a social obligation to serve the larger community; and in particular the state shall recognize that the managers of public, stool, skin and family lands were fiduciaries charged with the obligation to discharge their functions for the benefit respectively of the people of Ghana. Street naming exercise coupled with spatial development framework would help bring sanity into the system,” he added.

The secretariat will among other things help in strengthening good governance in land administration at the local level which will help ensure tenure security and for that matter the confidence for people to invest in the land, which will help alleviate poverty and accelerate socio-economic development, he added.

By Wise Zah/DIO