LAND ADMINISTRATION REGIONAL WORKSHOP GHANA, MALAWI, SOUTH-AFRICA AND TANZANIA MAY 12 – 15, 2008

TOPIC: CUSTOMARY LAND SECRETARIATS AS LOCAL STRUCTURES FOR EFFECTIVE RURAL LAND ADMINISTRATION IN GHANA PRESENTED BY MARK KAKRABA-AMPEH NATIONAL FACILITATOR CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTARTION LAND ADMINIOSTRATION PROJECT - GHANA

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

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

BACKGROUND CONT’D 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

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”

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.

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.

CLS Functions Cont’d 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.

CLS Functions Cont’d 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.

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

Functions Cont’d 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

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)

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

IMPROVEMENTS IN CUSTOMARY LAND ADMINISTRATION CONT’D (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

CHALLENGES Ensuring Sustainability FFinancial Sustainability TTechnical Sustainability

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

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

LESSONS LEARNT  Top-down approach to the establishment/strengthening 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.

CONCLUSION THANK YOU