1. IMPACT OF CUSTOMARY LAND SECRETARIATS ON LAND RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION AND TENURE SECURITY IN GHANA SAMUEL BIITIR, BASLYD NARA, STEPHEN AMEYAW Department of Real Estate and Land Management, University for Development Studies, Ghana Presenting author sbbiitir@gmail.comsbbiitir@gmail.com

2. Introduction In Ghana, land administration is governed by both customary practices and enacted legislations Two principal types of land tenure Customary lands are vested in chiefs and clans/families

3. Introduction Management of customary lands over the years have been problematic in terms of the following ◦ Poor recording of land transactions ◦ Weak administrative machinery ◦ Multiple sales of lands etc

4. Introduction LAP and policy orientation Customary Lands Secretariats established Amongst the roles are: ◦ 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 ◦ Consolidate and develop landholding rules and develop public land allocation and transaction procedures to limit double or multiple allocations

5. Research methodology Qualitative research methodology with particular focus on the case study research strategy CLS selected based on the following (a) whether the establishment was ‘supply-led’ or ‘demand-led’, (b) Type of tenurial system, and (c) CLSs in two geographical zones – Southern and Northern Ghana

6. Data collection methods Semi- structured interviews Review of CLS annual reports

7. Results Supply-driven approach Demand-driven approach Principal reasons for establishing the surveyed CLS – proper records keeping and land dispute resolution

8. Records on land rights – supply- driven CLSs

9. Records on land rights – demand- driven CLS Sourthern Ghana

10. Demand driven CLSs northern sector

11. Nature of land transactions recorded Rural and urban Plot allocations Share-cropping arrangements Farm lands allocation Leases Consent and transfer

12. Land disputes settled by CLS Dispute settlement through Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism

13. Number of disputes settled

14. Disputes settled in southern Ghana

15. Disputes settled in Northern Ghana

16. CLS boundary demarcation 4 out of the sample did not know their boundaries Hence disputes on boundaries of customary areas Remaining know their boundaries but by traditional method of identification Also resulting in boundary disputes

17. Land use planning & plot allocation procedures The study revealed that none of the sampled CLSs have documented any land use planning mechanism. They totally depend on TCPD to produce formal land use planning schemes for them. Therefore, with the exception of Gbawe Kwatei, Odupongkpehe, Wasa Amenfi, Anum, and Techiman CLSs, the rest of the sampled CLSs do not have records on the sizes of the various land use types within their jurisdictions.

18. Public education and sensitisation

19. Conclusion The study has demonstrated that CLSs are vital to land rights documentation and security of tenure and that they have performed creditably well in the areas of recording of land transactions, disputes settlement and sensitisation of communities on land rights and allocation procedures The effectiveness of these however depends on continuous improvement of records keeping, collaboration with public land sector agencies especially in areas of sharing information on rights, uses, disputes and preparation of planning layouts

20. Acknowledgement We acknowledge the support provided by Mr. Komson of the OASL Headquaters, Mr. Ebenzer Arther, Regional Stool Lands Officer, Eastern Region, and our research assistants – Maxwell, Prisca, Xorse, William Appau and Grace for collecting data from the various regions in Ghana

21. References Abdulai, R. T. & Ndekugri, I. E. (2007) Customary landholding institutions and housing development in urban centres of Ghana: Case Studies of Kumasi and Wa. Habitat International, Vol. 31, Pages 257–267. Amanor, K. S. (2009) Securing Lands Rights in Ghana. In Ubink, J. M., Hoekema, A. J. & Assies, W. J. (Eds.) Legalising Land Rights: Local Practices, State Responses and Tenure Security in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Leiden, Leiden Unviersity Press. Antwi, A. Y. (2006) Strengthenig Customary Land Administration, 5th FIG Regional Conference on the theme: Promoting Land Administration and Good Governance. Accra, Ghana. March 8-11 Bruce, J. W. (2013) Land Tenure, Property Rights and Local Land Governance United States Agency for International Development (USAID, Property Rights and Resource Governance Briefing Paper 16,