The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, working with the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), has begun a comprehensive review of Ghana’s 1999 National Land Policy.
The review is intended to produce a modern policy framework capable of addressing the country’s changing land administration and development needs.
The process began with a two-day inception workshop addressed by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Yusif Sulemana. It is expected to help strengthen land governance and ensure the national policy reflects current economic, social, environmental and technological conditions.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mr Sulemana said the 1999 policy was developed after extensive consultations on land-related matters across Ghana.
He said it had since served as an important basis for reforms in land administration, including the enactment of the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).
According to the Deputy Minister, the legislation brought about 13 separate land laws together under one comprehensive legal framework, representing one of the major achievements linked to the existing policy.
However, he acknowledged that significant difficulties remained across the sector. These include delays in the delivery of land services, disputes over land and boundaries, encroachment on public lands, multiple sales of the same land, insecurity of tenure and conflicts between competing land uses.
Mr Sulemana said Ghana’s changing demographic, urban, economic and technological landscape had created challenges that were not fully envisaged when the 1999 policy was prepared.
He also pointed to the increasing effects of climate change on the environment as an additional factor requiring the country to reassess how land is governed and managed.
The Deputy Minister said the review was therefore necessary to develop a policy that accurately reflected Ghana’s present circumstances and provided an effective response to emerging land-related pressures.
He described the exercise as a major government commitment and said the proposed policy would be given attention at Cabinet level as part of wider efforts to improve Ghana’s land governance system.
The revised policy is expected to be completed and submitted to Cabinet for consideration and approval by the end of 2027.
The review is being undertaken by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands.
