Ghana land administration and reform

The Ghana Lands Commission has identified significant complexities in the nation’s land management, reporting that approximately 80% of land is held under customary ownership. This structure, which leaves only 20% as public land, has led to recurring issues including family disputes, contested traditional leadership, and the sale of single parcels to multiple buyers. Officials noted that landowners often sell plots without providing necessary infrastructure like access roads or defined boundaries.

In response to administrative challenges, the Commission is pursuing several reform initiatives. This includes launching legal action against lessees of state and vested lands who have defaulted on ground rent payments. As of August 2026, the Commission had collected GH¢40.7 million, achieving 90.4 per cent of its GH¢45 million annual target.

Modernization efforts are also underway through the expansion of the Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS), which has reduced land search turnaround times from one month to seven working days in certain areas. Long-term structural changes include the Strategic Land Administration Reform Project (SLARP) to address fragmented records and outdated maps, a review of the 1999 National Land Policy, and proposed regulations for the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036).