Vice-President Mahamadu Bawumia has said the government is committed to applying the necessary technology to expedite the digitalisation of land registration and acquisition process in Ghana.

At a national symposium on the new Land Act 2020 (Act 1036), Dr Bawumia expressed confidence that technology will help put an end to the difficulties associated with land acquisition in the country.

Last year, parliament passed a new law to govern land administration in the country, which is expected to address the perennial problems of violence and fraud associated with land acquisition and registration.

This new law proposes very stringent punishment for persons claiming to possess lands that they do not own.

The Land Act was passed by parliament and given presidential assent on December 23 last year to revise, harmonise and consolidate the law.

Speaking at a national symposium on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, Dr Bawumia said: “It is worth noting that successive governments have tried resolving the challenges in our land administrative system but these efforts have often come with various complications and inefficient deployment of resources”.

“Governments after governments, bank loans after bank loans; our fundamental problems of land acquisition persist nonetheless. Seemingly unsolvable, citizen complaints get louder and louder so citizens resort to land guards”, he observed.

“To address these critical challenges in the land sector and to optimise the contribution of land to the socio-economic development of Ghana, the government of Nana Akufo-Addo is committed to changing, through the application of technology”, the land processing system so that “Ghana can make strides when technology becomes a driver for all sectors of the economy”.

“Therefore, as part of the digitisation agenda of the government, I have established, in my office, a liaison unit, which is working to assist the Lands Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to expedite the digitisation process…”, he said.

“Under the new Land Act, electronic conveyances have been captured. This can only be realised, however, by the establishment of a robust digitised land sector agency and this has been incorporated in the Land Act…

“I have every confidence that the team we have at the ministry of lands and natural resources is a firm and formidable team working with the Lands Commission and I believe we are going to slay this dragon and make sure that we fight the demons and principalities that we meet in the process of land administration.”

For his part, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, said his office is committed to fully ensuring the effective roll-out of the new Land Act 2020.

He was confident that theAct will streamline registration and administration of lands in the country and bring an end to the age-old tussle in land acquisition and registration.

Mr Jinapor said the ministry will be collaborating with the judiciary and relevant stakeholders to enforce the law to ensure an effective land administration.

The minister also added that the government will not hesitate to prosecute culprits who fall foul of the new Act.