Lands Commission puts its best foot forward: consolidates searches and goes digital.

The new directives
Last week, we woke up to the great news about the Public Notice issued by the Greater Accra Regional Lands Commission. It was a heartwarming message to all who use the services of the Commission. The two main issues addressed in the notice were as follows:

• Consolidation of search reports: The Lands Commission will, from 1^st October, 2021, issue one search report in respect of searches conducted at its three divisions.
• Applications for searches to be made only online: From 1^st October, 2021, anybody who wants to make a search at Lands Commission must submit the application online. It must be done on the Commission’s website. Even if you walk to their office, they will help you to submit your search application online.

These new directives, if fully implemented, will truly enhance the land administration process in the Greater Accra Region. It will also give true meaning to the changes introduced by the Land Act of 2019.

The old challenges
For instance, there are three divisions of the Lands Commission, namely, Public & Vested Lands Management Division, Land Registration Division, and Survey & Mapping Division. Before 1^st October, 2021, each of the three divisions issued separate search reports on the same piece of land. Therefore, once a person submitted a search application at one of the divisions, the other two divisions will not handle it.

An encounter our law firm had at the Lands Commission recently will help explain this further. We submitted a search application to Regional Lands Commission, Accra. After several months of following up without any results, we wrote officially to entreat the Lands Commission to expedite action for us. We later received a reply from the Lands Registration Division (LRD) saying that our search was being conducted at the Public & Vested Lands Management Division and not the Land Registration Division. We were directed by the letter to channel our grievance to the Regional Lands Officer of the Lands Commission for redress, as if Land Registration Division was a separate and distinct entity from the Lands Commission. All that the LRD had to do was to forward our letter to the PVLMD to work on it instead of directing us to now go and engage the Regional Lands Officer to refer our letter to the PVLMD, causing us further delay and monetary costs. It is for this reason that we are excited that Lands Commission will now issue only one search report.

Secondly, the new directive that all applications must be made online is also a welcome development. It will help eliminate the human intervention and interference in the search system. At this point, the most important question is: how long will it take for one to receive the search results on line? In January, 2021, we filed a search at the Lands Commission for a client. It was placed online for us to check its progress. It moved at such a slow pace that, we eventually, after several visits by our law clerk, received the search report in late June, 2021. The simple search took six months. We trust to luck things are going to change for the better.

Conclusion
It may be recalled that when President Akufo-Addo inaugurated the new Greater Accra Regional Lands Commission recently, His Excellency charged the Commission to issue search reports within one month. It is our hope that the Lands Commission will prove equal to the task.

Useful information
To make a search online, use: https://onlineservices.lc.gov.gh

For guidelines on how to do online searches, payment, tracking the application, etc, visit: https://www.lc.gov.gh/services

The writer is the Founder & Managing Counsel of FSB Law Consult. You can reach her at francisca@fsblawconsult.com and @fsboateng

Please visit her website: http://www.fsboateng.com for her blog articles, podcast, YouTube videos, etc.