Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has admitted state lands that have been disposed of and transferred to individuals and entities in the Greater Accra Region and their cost ‘may never be known.’
According to him, gathering such data from the Greater Accra Lands Commission is a nightmare because of poor record-keeping and the fact that 90% of these records are manual.
He stated that the only way to address this encumbrance is to digitalize the records at the Commission, which is currently ongoing but may outlast the term of the 8th Parliament.
Mr. Abu Jinapor disclosed this in Parliament on Tuesday, June 28, 2022during question time when he responded to a question that stood in the name of the MP for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza.
The MP asked the Lands Minister which government landed properties have been disposed of and transferred to private individuals and entities in the Greater Accra Region since 2017 and how much each of the properties cost.
The Minister explained that in response to a similar question in February he indicated these transactions are handled by the Regional Lands Commissions, established under article 260(1) to perform the functions of the Commission in the Regions.
He averred that in the spirit of transparency and accountability, he is prepared to provide the data from 1993, when Ghana ushered in the Fourth Republic, to date.
“I, therefore, directed the Lands Commission, to coordinate with the various Regional Lands Commissions, and collate the data for this august House.”
According to him, while working on the question, he received notices of other questions relating to the same subject matter.
“Question 1061, the Hon. Member for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, requested for the same information for the period between 2009 and 2016. And by question 1063, the Hon. Member for Ashiaman, Hon. Emest Henry Norgbey, requested for the same information for the twenty-year period between 2001 and 2021.”
“Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my answer to the august House on June 7, 2022, I have directed the Lands Commission to coordinate with the 16 Regional Lands Commissions and collate the information for the House.”
Mr. Jinapor noted that in respect of the Greater Accra Region, only 10% of data has been scanned and digitised and that the remaining 90% are manually generated and processed.
Officers of the Lands Commission, he said, have to manually go through volumes of documents to put the data together.
He said, “As this question forms part of the earlier question posed by the Hon. Member for Ashiaman, which was first in time, and since I have already promised this august House to provide the data in respect of that question, which will invariably answer this question, I will rely on my answer on June 7, 2022 that the Lands Commission has been directed to collate the data, and same will be presented to the house when ready.”
“I must, however, add that I have been advised by the Lands Commission, that with the volume of work involved in this exercise, it is near impossible to put together this data, at least during the lifetime of this Parliament.”
“This is why the Government has prioritised the digitisation and digitalisation of land administration in the country. When this is done, all this information will be available, and will be accessible to any person from the comfort of their homes, without the need for a parliamentary question.”