W' ODAME LARBI

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GHANA EQUITY IMPLICATIONS OF LAND CERTIFICATION

• W. ODAME LARBI
• PROJECT DIRECTOR
• Land Administration Project

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Land rights and interests in Ghana and their
  characteristics
• The need for land certification
• The key equity issues in land certification
• Equity implications

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GHANA AT A GLANCE

• Country Profile
• Size 238,540 km2
• Population23 million
• Population growth rate 2.1
• Urban population 46.3
• Urban population growth 3.2
• Economy predominantly agricultural (37.3 of
  GDP employ 60 of rural labour force)
• Land ownership pattern
• State 20
• Customary 78
• Split ownership 2

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LAND RIGHTS AND INTERESTS IN GHANA AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS

• Cardinal principle there is no land without an
  owner
• Dominant form of land ownership is customary
  land which represents all the different
  categories of rights and interests held within
  traditional systems (stools, skins, clans, and
  families)
• The main customary rights in interests (in order
  of hierarchy)
• Allodial interests - customary interest not
  subject to any restrictions on rights of user or
  obligations other than restrictions or
  obligations imposed by statute
• Customary freeholds the rights to land subject
  to only such restrictions or obligations as may
  be imposed upon a subject of a stool/skin/family
  who has taken possession of stool or family land
  either without consideration or upon payment of a
  nominal consideration
• Share cropping where the proceeds of a farm are
  divided according to pre-determined arrangements

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LAND RIGHTS AND INTERESTS IN GHANA AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS

• Share farming where the land rather than the
  proceeds are divided according to pre-determined
  arrangements
• Alienation holdings lands acquired outright by
  a non-member of the land owning community
• Gifts
• Other customary tenancy arrangements
• Communitys common property rights rights to
  secondary forest produce, water, common grazing
  grounds, etc.
• A range of derived/secondary rights
• Customary rights and common law rights (freeholds
  and leaseholds) often co-exist in the same piece
  of land

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LAND CERTIFICATION

• Two types of systems operate in Ghana
• Deed Registration
• Title Registration
• Deed Registration
• The authoritative recording of
  instruments/transactions affecting land which
  provide prima facie evidence of rights and
  interests in the particular piece of land
• Title Registration
• The authoritative adjudication and recording of
  the title to a piece of land
• Registration is by reference to the land itself
  and not instruments affecting the land
• Title is state guaranteed

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TYPES OF CERTIFICATION

• Deed Registration
• Operates in nine regions of the country
• Through the LAP a Land Registry has been
  established in 8 regional capitals
• Title Registration
• Operates in the Greater Accra Region and Kumasi
  (Awutu-Senya has just been declared a title
  registration district to pilot systematic rural
  titling under MiDA Project)

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LAND CERTIFICATION - COVERAGE

• Deed Registration
• Operates in nine regions of the country
• Through the LAP a Land Registry has been
  established in 8 regional capitals
• Title Registration
• Operates in the Greater Accra Region and Kumasi
  (Awutu-Senya has just been declared a title
  registration district to pilot systematic rural
  titling under MiDA Project)

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DEED REGISTRATION- FEATURES

• It is not compulsory
• It is not systematic
• Even though it is not by reference to a plan (in
  the law) in practice the Lands Commission records
  the instruments by reference to a plan before
  registration
• Site plan must receive prior approval by the
  Regional Surveyor

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TITLE REGISTRATION - FEATURES

• Even though the Law provides for a systematic
  approach to registration in practice it is
  sporadic
• Even though the Law provides for compulsory
  registration in practice it is demand driven.
  There is no sanction against default other than
  the state being registered as the proprietor. The
  history of property ownership does not support
  the implementation of the provision.
• Adjudication is at three levels
• The Chief Registrar/registrars
• The Land Title Adjudication Committee
• The High Court
• Ensures quick and safe land transactions
• Assures security of tenure
• Preparing to pilot a systematic approach

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THE NEED FOR CERTIFICATION

• Two Beneficiary Assessment of Land Registries
  established under the LAP concluded that the need
  for land registration stems from
• Increased demand for land
• Increased commodification and commercialisation
  of land rights
• Demand for documentation to determine root of
  title
• Demand for documentation of land transfers
• Security of tenure offered by land certification
• Reduction in litigation
• Reduction in turn-around time
• Proximity to Land Registry
• Access to credit

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REGISTRATION OF LAND RIGHTS - 2006
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REGISTRATION OF LAND RIGHTS - 2007
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CUSTOMARY LAND SECRETARIATS

• Local land administration structures for the
  customary land owners
• Integral part of the structures for customary
  land management
• Assist the customary land owners to improve the
  management of their land
• Accurate and up to date records keeping for the
  customary land owners
• Local source of information about land ownership
  and land use to improve equity and reduce
  vulnerability
• 38 CLSs established throughout the country

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SYSTEMATIC TITLE REGISTRATION

• Systematic surveying, inventory and systematic
  title registration of properties. This approach
  will capture in a comprehensive way the rights
  and interests existing in various parcels
• application of the section by section, block by
  block, parcel by parcel and the one parcel - one
  visit principle to ensure that all relevant
  information required for the issuing of title are
  collected in an efficient, participatory and
  effective manner
• Piloting in urban areas (target 50,000
  properties) under LAP and in rural areas under
  MiDA
• Use of modern technology (DPT) to improve
  efficiency and reduce cost
• To be completed by end of 2009

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KEY EQUITY ISSUES IN LAND CERTIFICATION

• The objective is to ensure that land
  certification does not lead to
• Loss of land rights
• Diminution in the quantum of land rights
• But rather captures the defacto rights as
  accurately as is possible in terms of both
  spatial and attribute dimensions
• KEY AREAS TO WATCH
• Surveying and adjudication must be participatory
• Cost must be affordable
• Bureaucracy must be simple (processes and
  procedures)
• Special effort must be made to include the
  vulnerable

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THE VULNERABLE IN LAND CERTIFICATION

• Increasing level of vulnerability
• Vulnerability increases in cases of no or
  improper documentation

• Allodial interest
• Freeholds (purchased lands)
• Leaseholds
• Customary freeholders in peri-urban areas
• Customary freeholders not close to the decision-
  makers
• Customary tenants
• Women in rural communities
• Third generation beneficiaries of customary gifts
• Communal rights
• Derived/Secondary rights

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EQUITY ISSUES IN LAND CERTIFICATION

• The challenges
• Customary system of land ownership requires
  careful analysis and understanding to be able to
  capture existing land rights, their quantum and
  caveats
• Customary system does not lend itself to the
  rolling out of large scale certification
  programmes at the state level
• Large nature of informal and unrecorded
  transactions
• Customary transactions e.g. customary gift
• The format for capturing data and the nature of
  certification

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EQUITY ISSUES IN LAND CERTIFICATION

• Next issues
• Undertake impact assessment on land certification
  and vulnerability
• Undertake baseline studies for the pilot rural
  land titling

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CONCLUSION

• Land certification in whatever form it takes is
  very useful for building land administration
  infrastructure which is necessary for land
  markets
• Care must be taken so that the rights of the
  vulnerable are not lost in the process
• Land certification must give hope and security.

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• Thank you.