Ghanaians have expressed confidence that Mahama’s victory at the 2024 polls presents an opportunity to improve land management and administration in the country.
Ghanaians strongly believe that John Mahama’s return to power is an opportunity to restore and instill discipline in the land market and also to improve on the utilization of the nation’s natural resources compared to the out-going government.
Reinforcing this popular belief among Ghanaians in his New Year message, John Mahama gave an indication of his commitment to restoring integrity and efficiency in governance and indicated to Ghanaians his intention to reset the economy for growth and job creation, which he said would be anchored on the implementation of his 24-hour economy policy – a cornerstone of his leadership.
He added that “…together, we will create an environment that fosters entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable development, ensuring that our youth can achieve their dreams right here at home.”
Prior to Mahama’s New Year message, a legal luminary and statesman – Kwaku Ansah Asare and the MP for Sagnarigu – A. B. A Fuseini expressed their confidence about Mahama’s ability to reset land management and administration in Ghana and to restore confidence in the way state lands are managed and allocated.
Both statesmen urged the in-coming government to review and overhaul the regime governing state land management and to halt the state capture and abuse in the allocation of government lands to political appointees.
They urged the incoming government to address the many challenges facing the land sector and where possible return lands to their original owners – particularly those lands the state did not have a use for.
The statesmen were optimistic that land administration would see improvements for the collective good of all particularly for traditional authorities, stools and families.
Currently, the land market is characterized by general indiscipline, difficult access to land, multiple sales, frequent litigation, a weak land administration regime and inadequate security of tenure and conflicts of interests between and within stools, skins, families and clans.
The planned introduction of a Citizens Service Delivery Charter by the in-coming government would help address some of these challenges by streamlining service delivery by public officers and hold public officers accountable.
It would also ensure strict enforcement of the code of conduct for public servants.
In addition, the current state land allocation regime would be revised and replaced with a framework that restores trust, confidence and transparency while eliminating abuse of power by political appointees.
