The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has inaugurated a reconstituted 23-member Western Regional Lands Commission Board in Sekondi with a strong call for reforms in the land registration process.

Addressing the newly sworn-in board, Mr. Buah emphasised the need to reduce the current land registration processing time to 30 working days.

He also charged the board to decentralise services to the district level in order to make land registration more accessible and user-friendly for the public.

“Why should everyone have to travel all the way to the regional office just to register land?” he queried, urging the board members to bring their expertise to bear in streamlining operations and improving service delivery.

The Minister further reminded the board of its constitutional and statutory mandate under Article 258 of the 1992 Constitution and the Lands Commission Act (Act 767) of 2008.

These include promoting transparency, professionalism, and accessibility in land administration; safeguarding stool and public lands from unlawful conversion and encroachment; and clamping down on illegal mining activities, commonly referred to as "galamsey."

Mr. Buah underscored the critical role the board must play in combating land encroachment and illegal mining, issues that continue to threaten land governance and environmental sustainability in the region.

Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, who also addressed the gathering, acknowledged the region's ongoing challenges with land litigation.

He encouraged the board to foster strong collaboration with stakeholders, particularly traditional authorities, to resolve disputes and unlock the full potential of the region’s land resources.

Mr. Nelson further appealed to land administrators to work with chiefs and landowners to identify and earmark lands suitable for investment, a move he believes will help boost socio-economic development in the Western Region.