Kumasi chiefs schooled on new Land Act
A day's workshop on the new Land Commission Act has been organised for some selected chiefs in the Kumasi traditional area.
The programme, which was conducted under the Small Grants Programme of the Land Administration Project, was aimed at educating the traditional leaders on the new Lands Commission Act (Act 767) 2008, which streamlines the land acquisition system in the country.
The Act was passed in 2008 to integrate the operations of the public land sector agencies under one body to facilitate effective and efficient land administration.
The new commission groups the various stakeholders such as the Lands Commission, Survey Department, Land Valuation Board, and Land Title Registry into one umbrella, to create a one-stop shop agency, which will fast track and manage the process of land registration in the country.
The facilitator of the workshop, Prof. S.O. Asiamah, who is also a Lecturer in Land Economy at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, told then Ashanti File in an interview, that the workshop was a pilot project being implemented for the traditional rulers in the Kumasi metropolis, and would spread to other areas across the country.
He said such workshops were necessary, because, as custodians of traditional lands, the chiefs needed to be educated on the current reforms and processes involved in ownership and allocation of lands in the country.
Prof. Asiamah said one of the main challenges confronting the country, in terms of its land administration system, was lack of consultation, coordination, and cooperation between the various stakeholders, including the chiefs, and expressed the hope that under the new lands commission act, all the bottlenecks would be addressed.
He said while ensuring better cooperation among the various land sector agencies, the new Land Commission Act would also promote better cooperation between traditional land owners and the state agency.
Prof. Asiamah indicated that under the Kumasi Traditional Council, the council would interact with the Lands Commission in the preparation of planning schemes, creation of access to land for prospective developers, consents for assignments, mortgages and sub-leases.
He said by the end of the workshop, the chiefs would adequately appreciate their roles, and what they would be expected to do under the new commission.
The Bantamahene, who represented the Asantehene, said the workshop was very necessary, since traditional rulers play an acting role in the ownership and allocation of lands in the country.
He said the land tenure system was very dear to the heart of the Asantehene and the entire people of the Asante Kingdom, and expressed the optimism that the New Lands Commission would help address the numerous land problems that have often surrounded land acquisition in the country.