Draft policy on state land allocation must be examined thoroughly – Lecturer

Draft policy on state land allocation must be examined thoroughly – Lecturer. Dr Stanislaus Adiaba, a Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), has urged the Lands Commission to make the draft policy guidelines for State land allocation available for public examination.

He said subjecting the guidelines to broader input from stakeholders would ensure that every gap in the policy was addressed to make it more robust and in accordance with best international practices.

The Lands Commission, in September 2022, inaugurated a nine-member standing committee to draft a policy guideline for the acquisition and allocation of public lands.

This is in line with Article 258 of the 1992 Constitution and the Lands Commission Act, 2008 (Act 767), which mandates the Commission to formulate and submit to government recommendations on national policy regarding land use and capability.

This mandate has been accentuated by the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).

However, the guidelines, which were expected to be developed by October 2022, are still with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) awaiting ministerial approval.

Speaking in an interview with the media on the sidelines of a policy dialogue on the “Formulation of Guidelines for Public Land Allocation in Ghana” in Accra, on Tuesday, Dr Adiaba called for the immediate release of the draft policy for stakeholder engagement before approval.

He stressed that subjecting the guidelines to broader stakeholder scrutiny was critical to ensure that it was fine-tuned to meet global best practices and address the problem for which it was developed.

“As it is now, it needs to be released or made available to the broader stakeholders, then we look at it,” he emphasised.

“Knowledge does not reside in the minds of only technocrats, there are other people with varied knowledge in terms of novelty, in terms of being practical, in terms of user perspective. So, if it’s only the supplier or the producer perspective, you will bring it out and the users or the beneficiaries will point loopholes in it.

“So, it’s good it is subjected to broader stakeholder consultation,” Dr Adiaba stressed.

The dialogue, organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, was to solicit inputs from relevant stakeholders for the development of robust frameworks and strategic methodologies to optimise the utilisation of public lands.

It was attended by officials from the MLNR, the Lands Commission, civil society organisations, and political parties, among others.

Dr. Adiaba also urged that any final approved guidelines be consistent with the national development agenda.

“It should flow with the directive principles of state policy and the objectives must be clear,” he highlighted.

Dr. Adiaba reiterated that existing gaps in current regulations must be addressed to keep up with changing times.

To ensure transparency and efficient allocation of state lands to the public, he recommended that the public be provided information on available lands ready for allocation to enable them to make informed decisions.

Mr Maxwell Adu-Nsafoa, Technical Director for Lands at the MLNR, indicated that over the years, the Ministry had undertaken several programmes to bring sanity into the allocation of public lands, including the formulation of policies such as the Ghana Public Lands policy and the Public Lands Protection Team.

He explained that these initiatives had begun yielding results.

“The Public Lands Protection Team has made significant strides in protecting lands, including the Amrahia Dairy Farmland, Pantang Hospital Lands and Mpehuasem land,” he touted.

While commending GII for the dialogue, Mr Adu-Nsafoa assured that the ministry would support any project intended to bring sanity to the country’s land tenure system.

Mr Benedict Doh, Head of Finance Department, GII, explained that the country’s land tenure system was intricate, which required transparent and accountable governance mechanisms to tackle.

He indicated that the misallocation of public lands had worsened social inequalities and eroded public trust in state institutions.

He called for broader stakeholder engagement to help tackle the phenomenon.

Source: GNA