LAND ADMINISTRATION REGIONAL WORKSHOP

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LAND ADMINISTRATION REGIONAL WORKSHOP

• GHANA, MALAWI, SOUTH-AFRICA
• AND TANZANIA
• MAY 12 15, 2008

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TOPIC

• CUSTOMARY LAND SECRETARIATS
• AS LOCAL STRUCTURES FOR EFFECTIVE RURAL LAND
  ADMINISTRATION IN GHANA
• PRESENTED BY
• MARK KAKRABA-AMPEHNATIONAL FACILITATOR
• CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTARTION
• LAND ADMINIOSTRATION PROJECT - GHANA

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

• Background
• Strengthening Customary Land Administration
• CLS and their Functions
• Land Management Committees and their Functions
• Progress in Establishment of CLS
• Improvements made so far
• Challenges
• Lessons
• Conclusion

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BACKGROUND

• Rural Land Administration in Ghana is governed by
  Customary practices and Enacted Laws
• About 80 of lands in Ghana are Customary lands
  under stools/skins, families, clans, community
  heads
• About 60 of Ghana is rural
• Customary Land Administration characterized by
  paucity of records on rights and interests of
  groups and individuals be they inherent or
  derivative

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BACKGROUND CONTD

• Most land transactions are oral
• Laws on land registration not successful in
  capturing such oral grants and inherent rights
  and interests e.g.
• ?Land Registry Act, 1962 (Act 122)
• ?Conveyancing Decree, 1973 (NRCD 175)
• ?Land Title Registration Law, 1986 (PNDCL 152)
• Contribution to conflict and litigation, fraud
  and general indiscipline in the land market

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STRENGTHENING CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTRATION

• Customary Land Administration reform under the
  Land Administration Project Project Component
  2.3
• supporting the development of Customary Land
  Secretariats (CLS) in Ghana, as effective,
  accountable local structures for administration
  of land with particular attention to be paid to
  strengthening the capacity of CLS to address the
  needs of diverse populations within their
  communities, and recognize the great range of
  customary tenure systems in different regions of
  the country

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Expected Outputs of the reform

• 1. Institutions
• CLS established and strengthened in pilot areas
  in partnership with government and land sector
  agencies
• 2. Information
• Improved quality of records and accessibility of
  information at local level on
• land use and holdings
• land transactions and availability, and
• associated financial and cadastral records
• 3. Accountability
• Improved traditional/customary level
  accountability,
• 4. Policy development better informed.

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CLS THEIR FUNCTIONS

• Customary Land Secretariats are decentralised
  land administration units established and owned
  by land owning communities
• Functions
• Keeping and maintaining accurate and up to date
  land records.
• Provision of information about the land owning
  community to the public.
• Provision of land information to the public
  ownership, rights, use, availability, etc.

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CLS Functions Contd

• Keeping records of all fees and charges
  associated with land grants.
• Liaising with Town Development Committees to
  ensure that development conforms to planning
  schemes.
• Receiving all correspondence on behalf of the
  Land Management Committee.
• Serve as the link between the land owning
  community and the public sector land agencies,
  District/Municipal/Metropolitan Assemblies,
  Environmental Protection Agency, etc.

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CLS Functions Contd

• Serving as the link between an applicant and the
  Land Management Committee.
• Preparing accounts of all income and expenditure.
• Preparing periodic reports on all activities of
  the Secretariat.
• Promote ADR and keep records on land related
  disputes settled at the local level through ADR.

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LAND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES THEIR FUNCTIONS

• Land Management Committees
• Functions
• Exercising general oversight responsibility over
  the operations of the CLS
• Offer policy direction to the CLS
• Hire all categories of staff of the CLS
• Determine salaries and allowances for CLS staff.
• Provide the CLS with details of all persons with
  capacity to execute instruments affecting land
  within the CLS area

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Functions Contd

• Offer guidelines for determination of drink
  money and ground rent.
• Review performance of the CLS and determine new
  direction for effectiveness and growth.
• Resolve land related disputes through ADR
• Perform any other functions to be determined from
  time to time by the customary land owning group

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PROGRESS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CLS

• Supply Led Approach
• Change to Demand-Led Approach
• 10 Established/Strengthened
• 10 New to be established in May 2008
• (Refer to Map for location of CLS)

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IMPROVEMENTS IN CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTRATION

• (a) Recording of Land Transaction. Over
  8,000 recorded so far
• (b) Enumeration of properties and recovery of
  land records
• (c) Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution

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IMPROVEMENTS IN CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTRATION
CONTD

• (d) Harnessing Economic potential through sound
  land management practices
• (e) Interface developed between land
  registration agencies and the CLS
• (f) The duplication of the land records of the
  public sector land agencies for the CLS

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CHALLENGES

• Ensuring Sustainability
• Financial Sustainability
• Technical Sustainability

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Financial Sustainability

• Identifying sources of revenue to meet all CLS
  running cost
• Developing Capacity of CLS staff to harness
  identified revenue sources
• Developing partnership with land users for support

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Technical Sustainability

• Personnel with requisite skills
• Types and records to be kept
• Record management practices
• Level of Technology

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LESSONS LEARNT

• Top-down approach to the establishment/strengtheni
  ng CLS is not the best as it fails to win
  commitment and ownership of the customary land
  owners.
• Given the right orientation and training, CLS
  could resolve land disputes at the local level
  and substantially reduce the number of land cases
  that come before the formal courts.
• With the appropriate training and support, CLS
  could manage land records and use such records to
  improve land revenue.

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• CONCLUSION
• THANK YOU