1. GHANA CADASTRE & REGISTRATION BUSINESS PROCESS OVERVIEW
Samuel Oppong-Antwi
Head, Cartographic & GIS Section
Survey & Mapping Division
Lands Commission
OSCAR Project Co-ordinator

2. Outline of Presentation
Introduction
Land Administration Framework
Functions of the Divisions of the Lands Commission
Business Processes
Structural Changes
Re-engineered Business Processes
Overview -Integrated Business Process

3. Introduction Ghana’s territory covers approx. 239,00 sq km
Basically two types of land ownership
- Public or State Lands : compulsorily acquired by govt. through the invocation of the appropriate legislation, vested in the President and held in trust by the state for the entire people of Ghana
- Private Lands : communal ownership, held in trust for the community or group by a stool or skin as symbol of traditional authority, or by a family
Private lands form about 80%

4. Land Administration Framework
Agencies involve in land administration are
- Lands Commission
- Survey & Mapping Division
- Public & Vested Lands Management Division
- Land Valuation Division
- Land Registration Division
- Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands
- Town & Country Planning Department

5. Function of Divisions of the Land Commission
Land Registration Division
-First Registration (freehold and lease)
- Registration of Deeds;
- Issue of Certificate on Transfer of Title
- Conduct of General Searches
- Conduct Search Report for Development Permits;
- Register & Discharge Mortgages
Land Valuation Division
- Stamp Duty Assessment

6. Function of Divisions of the Land Commission
Survey & Mapping Division
- Production of Sectional Maps
- Production of Parcel / Cadastral Plans;
- Production of Composite Plans;
Public and Vested Lands Management Division
Search Report Process;
Stool Lands Granting Of Consent Assignment/ Mortgage/ Subletting;
Granting Of Concurrence (Stool Land);
Granting Of Consent To Subdivided Plots; and
Consent To Transfer Of Govt. Land.

7. Business Processes Current processes go through over 40 steps
as follows :
Stamp Duty at the LVD
Lodgment of Document at LRD
Preparation of Parcel/Cadastral Plan at SMD
Search at PVLMD
Issuance of Certificate at LRD

8. Business Processes
The agencies has been operating as stand-alone with a business approach to land administration that sought to ensure compliance in each independent agency.
Reformed approach (Act 767 of 2008) calls for a comprehensive and holistic approach with strong central administration and information systems servicing a network of regional and district offices.
In such a system land information remains the universal land administration driver of the future. Structures have to be adjusted and set in place to achieve this objective
The stand-alone structure of the business process of Land Administration in Ghana required from the client perspective attendance at several agencies in order to comply with all of the legal requirements for land transactions. There are many steps with distinct outputs that comprise the business processes of land administration in Ghana.

9. Structural Changes
The following structural changes have been made to fully implement the new business processes
- Procedural changes for efficiency gains
- Cross divisional integration
- Revenue earning potential
- Workflow reengineering
- Risk assessment
The objectives of the suggested changes are summarized as follows:
- To reduce Process Time
- To improve Productivity and efficiency
- To ensure Compliance
- To cut Costs (transaction and economic) to the customer

10. Re-engineered Business Process
Categorization of the documentation received by the CSU
Possible scanning the documentation into an electronic format by the CSU
Sending of electronic copies to heads of functional processing units at the back office
Integrated Service Teams complete the processing of the request and delivers it to the CSU
Client collects the signed LC documents

11. Overview -Integrated Business Process
A single Customer/Client Service Unit (CSU) which essentially will capture all the information, inquiries and requests entering the organization, assess the decision needs and route the information to the appropriate processing point;
In the medium to long term there will be co-location of all back office units in a common facility or area in each processing (Districts or Regional Offices)
There will be the use of common forms in the processing of all applications/requests;
Introduction of a common transaction numbering system for all requests
A single Land Information Unit of the LC maintaining both the manual and digital records/information and network/sharing agreements with other LSAs and the Public. This Unit shall feed all Divisions and units with this information according to policies of the LC.
Indexing on a unique parcel identification number and attaching owner’s name, legal status and transaction particulars to that parcel number.

12. Potential Evolution of Land Administration Business Process
Manual System
Re-engineered & Computerized System
On-Line Access System
E-Administration System
This evolution will lead to
Online Access to Maps
Online delivery of certification
Online ability to data integration / sharing

13. Sectional Map -Record Sheet

14. Cadastral Record sheet

15. Digital Sectional Map

16. Application Files for Plotting Completed Files

17. Preparation of Parcel / Cadastral Plans

18. Thanks for the Attention