The Lands Commission says family disputes, multiple sales of the same plots and inadequate planning on customary lands remain major obstacles to effective land administration in Ghana.
Its Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of Operations, Surveyor Raphael Hokey, said an estimated 80% of the country’s land falls under customary ownership, leaving about 20% classified as public land.
He explained that this ownership structure complicates efforts to manage land and ensure orderly development.
“It’s been roughly estimated that about 80% of the land is customary land. Only 20% are public lands,” he said in an interview with Citi FM.
Mr Hokey explained that public lands include state and vested lands. For vested lands, customary owners retain the beneficial interest, while the legal interest rests with the state.
He said these arrangements present difficulties for institutions tasked with administering land, particularly where they lack full control over the property concerned.
“You are trying to manage what you don’t own and control properly,” he stated.
Mr Hokey identified disagreements within landowning families and disputes over traditional leadership as recurring problems affecting transactions.
He explained that competing claims over who is authorised to represent a family or community can lead to litigation and uncertainty for prospective buyers.
The sale of a single parcel to different purchasers, he added, continues to create ownership disputes and undermine land administration.
Beyond ownership conflicts, Mr Hokey expressed concern about the lack of planning and infrastructure on some customary lands.
He said plots are often sold without access roads, essential services or clearly marked boundaries, leaving buyers to contend with difficulties when developing their properties.
This, he noted, also raises questions about whether landowning families or the State should provide the infrastructure needed to support those developments.
On enforcement, Mr Hokey said stronger cooperation among public institutions was necessary to address unauthorised construction and other land-related challenges.
He explained that local assemblies could seek Police assistance to deal with unauthorised development and pursue court orders where cases require judicial intervention.