1. Best Practice in Land Administration Project Implementation: Challenging Existing Orthodoxies in Customary Land Governance in Ghana
JOHN BUGRI
DEPARTMENT OF LAND ECONOMY
FACULTY OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT, COLLEGE OF ART AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
1.0 Introduction
2.0 The Three Orthodoxies
3.0 Methodology
4.0 Results of Project Intervention
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

3. 1.0 Introduction The rules, processes and organizations through which decisions are made regarding access to and use of land, the manner in which these decisions are made and implemented, and how conflicts are resolved are at the core of what land governance is about.

4. There is a state of legal plurality in land governance, with the pre-eminent being customary land governance (80%) and the state system (20%). Customary system has traditional authorities: chiefs and elders, clan and family heads, tendanas (land priests) as the actors of various corporate tenure groups. The state system is run by the state land institutions – Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Lands Commission, Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), etc.

5. 2.0 The Three Orthodoxies Oral land grants, marginalization of women’s land rights and a lack of transparency and accountability reinforce each other as an axis of evil in customary land governance. With support of the World Bank and other development partners the Ghana Land Administration Project operated from 2003 to 2018 with the view to improving on land governance in the country.

6. 2.1 Oral Land Grants Most land rights transfer in Ghana, especially in rural communities are not documented; following a time honoured oral grant procedure variously described as:

7. The ceremony takes place at the site which is the subject matter of the sale, after properly identifying the boundaries and inspecting same in the presence of witnesses (Amanor, 2008). The vendor then offers libation to reiterate the outright disposal of the land to the purchaser and entreats the ancestral spirits to depart from the land and settle elsewhere (Amanor, 2008) and also informs permanent spirits of the place (streams, hills, big rocks and big trees) to prosper the newcomer (Hill, 1970).

8. 2.2 Marginalized women’s land rights Niessen (1985) observed that the social identity of women as situated between the wife-giving group and the wife-taking group, makes women associated with both groups but absolute members of neither and therefore marginalizes their land ownership position. Bortei-Doku (1990) also noted that the stability of a woman’s marriage is a critical factor in gaining access to land in Ghana.

9. 2.3 Lack of Transparency and Accountability The different tenure regimes of the various traditional areas and the lack of regulation on transnational land transactions have enabled idiosyncratic deals between investors and land owners, mostly chiefs. In reality contracts are between chiefs and investors and often reflect their motivations and aspirations rather than those of the community [Tsikata and Yaro, 2011].

10. 3.0 Methodology An aggregate of 361project beneficiaries (290 were primary and (71 secondary beneficiaries). Of the 290 primary beneficiaries 204 (70%) were male and 86 (30%) female. Of the 290, 207 (71%) were indigenes and 77 (27%) non-indigenes. 12 Selected Customary Land Secretariat Areas across Ghana

11. Selection of Intervention Areas
Key Considerations
Geog. Representation
Period of Existence
Tenure Typology
Urbanization Factor
Other Interventions in the CLS area

12. (a) Records of Land Documentation
Name of CLS
Time of Establishment
Documents ( Allocation/tenancy agreements/Lease)
Adankrangya
LAP-2
170
Bekwai
LAP-1
400
Ejisu
240
Akwamufie
197
Dormaa
289
Bongo 61
Gulkpegu
30,000
Yoo
5258 Wa -
Wassa Amenfi
2,447
Fieve
129
Total
39,191

13. Of those who undertook documentation of their land rights, 47
Of those who undertook documentation of their land rights, 47.7% were very satisfied and 43.1% satisfied of service provided by the Customary Land Secretariat. The time taken to accomplish the documentation of land rights by beneficiaries was between a week and two weeks for 60% of respondents. Cost of documentation was however a challenge for beneficiaries as the results next will show.

14. Cost of Documentation
(Over 80% incurred GhC1000 [$200] or less)

15. Beneficiaries’ Views on Cost of Documentation
Categories
Percent
Very High
9.7
65%
High
19.4
Somehow high
35.5
Not high
27.4
Don't know
8.1
Total
100.0

16. (b) Women’s Influence in land decision making processes processes
Women are participating….but less likely to influence Outcomes of deliberative processes

17. Regional Disparities in Women’s Involvement in Land Decision-making Processes

18. Documentation of Land Rights and Gender

19. (c) Transparency and Public Participation in Land Decision Making Processes

20. Key Decision Makers
Encouraging community involvement…but TAs still Community participation high but TA make the key decisions

21. 5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations Land remains a critical asset to many Ghanaians and it is important to address existing norms or orthodoxies which impinge negatively on good land governance in the customary domain. However, best practice in Land Administration Project intervention has produced mixed results in respect of oral grants, women’s land rights and transparency and accountability in Ghana’s land governance.

22. With the ending of current project intervention, a third phase is recommended for continued attempts at improving land governance. Yet, for LAP-3 to be meaningful the warning of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources is not only apt but timely: “If this is where we are after all the effort, then as stakeholders, we need to ask ourselves some frank questions and change the old narratives which have not served as well” (Amewu, 2018).

23. THANK YOU