Land Commission Staff cautioned against malfeasance

Nana Adjei Ampofo, Board Chairman of the Lands Commission, on Thursday warned that officials and staff of the commission who would willfully cause financial loss by saddling the institution with huge debts would be sacked or sanctioned.

He asked them to work hard and truthfully to reverse the public perception that the Commission and its allied agencies were corrupt.

Nana Adjei Ampofo was speaking at a staff durbar, organised for members of the newly constituted Lands Commission and the Board of the Commission in Accra.

The new Lands Commission which was created in 2008 through Act 767 is a fusion of four land agencies, the Survey Department, Land Title Registry, Land Valuation Board and the old Lands Commission into a new Lands Commission.

The new commission would submit an annual report and account to Parliament.

Nana Ampofo said since he become Board Chairman of the Commission three months, he had realised that some of the staff were efficient and dedicated while others were fraudulent and dishonest.

He cited that some officials of the Commission had sold lands belonging to some state organization to Lebanese businessmen.

Dr Odame Larbi, Acting Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, asked the staff to work harder and honestly to give the Commission a new image.

He said the vision of the Commission is to become a world class centre of excellence for geographic information, guaranteed tenure, property valuation, surveying and mapping through team work and modern technology.

Dr Larbi said the Commission would establish a comprehensive, and sustainable human resource base and management system for efficient land administration.

He said the reforms that the Commission was embarking on would not achieve the desired outcome if the staff continued to do things in the old ways.