Dr Yusif Sulemana
Ghana is moving to overhaul its 1999 National Land Policy amid persistent land disputes, multiple sales of land, encroachment on public lands and delays in land service delivery.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), has commenced a comprehensive review of the policy to develop a new framework that reflects the country’s changing land administration and development needs.
The review is expected to produce a new policy for Cabinet consideration and approval by the end of 2027.
The two-day inception workshop for the review was addressed by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Resources, Dr Yusif Sulemana, who said the 1999 policy no longer adequately responds to the economic, social, environmental and technological changes affecting land administration in Ghana.
He said population growth, rapid urbanisation, economic development, technological changes and the growing effects of climate change had created new land administration challenges that were not fully anticipated when the policy was formulated.
Dr Sulemana said the review was therefore necessary to strengthen land governance and address persistent problems in the sector, including land and boundary disputes, multiple sales of land, tenure insecurity, encroachment on public lands, competing land uses and delays in land service delivery.
The 1999 National Land Policy was developed following extensive consultations on land-related challenges across the country and has since provided the foundation for several land administration reforms.
One of its major outcomes was the enactment of the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), which consolidated about 13 separate land laws into a single legal framework.
Despite these reforms, the Deputy Minister said significant challenges remained, requiring a broader policy response to improve the management, administration and use of land.
He described the review as a major government commitment and disclosed that the proposed policy would receive attention at the Cabinet level as part of efforts to strengthen Ghana’s land governance system.
