When Oliver Gidiglo, a 39-year-old accountant, bought his plot at Kasoa five years ago, he thought he was securing his family’s future. The documents looked genuine, the seller was well-known, and the land was already walled. He paid in full, fenced it, began designing his dream home – a 4 bedroom house with 2 room boys quarters.
A year later, Seidu Alhassan appeared — clutching a different indenture for the same land, signed by the same family. Within weeks, Oliver was dragged into a legal battle that drained his savings and his spirit. Like many Ghanaians, and diasporans, he discovered that buying land here really is a gamble.
Multiple sales, missing records, and overlapping claims are all symptoms of a fractured land administration system that frightens investors and frustrates citizens. Land litigation alone constitutes nearly 90 % of civil cases in Ghana’s courts, freezing billions of cedis in unproductive “uncompleted” property — capital that could have built homes, farms, and factories.
Ghana missed a historic opportunity in 1992 to vest all land in the state. The Constitution could have unified tenure and ownership, but we didn’t seize the moment. We should.
Today, the Lands Commission, though constitutionally established, has lost much of the public’s confidence. The time has come for a new, independent land authority comprising government, professional land administrators, civil society, and the private sector.
And we must let technology lead the way. Using AI, drones, GIS mapping, and blockchain, Ghana can digitally map every property, integrate stool, skin, family, and state lands, and create a secure online portal where every record is verifiable and accessible — from the village farmer to the High Court. Not easy but very acheivable! This will also create jobs for graduates involved in the process!
Other African nations have done it. Rwanda mapped over ten million parcels and issued digital titles, cutting land disputes dramatically. Kenya’s ArdhiSasa platform now allows real-time electronic transfers and ownership tracking. Both countries turned confusion into confidence through leadership, data, and enforcement.
Ghana’s Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) is one of Africa’s most progressive legal frameworks, but its promise lies in implementation.
Imagine a Ghana where Oliver can log on, verify his plot in minutes, and register it securely — without middlemen, forged documents, or heartbreak. Where Seidu can confirm authenticity before buying. Where courts no longer drown in land cases like Adjetey Agbosu v. Kotey [2003-2004] SCGLR 420 or Awuley Lartey v. Attorney-General [1971] 2 GLR 147 that echo decades of unresolved tenure conflict.
The time for digital land reform — powered by AI, integrity, and inclusion — is now.
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