Bawumia promises free land registration for Chiefs

Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has announced plans to address long-standing land disputes in Ghana by making land registration free for chiefs and digitizing the land tenure system. This is part of a host of plans the NPP Flagbearer has outlined to address disputes associated with the land tenure system.

Speaking to the clergy in the Greater Accra Region, Dr Bawumia identified the high cost of registration fees as a major obstacle preventing chiefs from registering their lands, leading to ownership disputes. He emphasised the need to modernise the land tenure system, citing examples from advanced countries where land ownership information is easily accessible online.

“Land in many countries, in the advanced world, if you want to know who owns the land, you can find it on your mobile phone, you don’t have to visit the land registry. So we are going to move to marking and digitalizing our land. So many land disputes come up because nobody really knows who owns the land.”

“Many people claim ownership and one of the problems we have is that many of the stool lands are not registered. I found out that many of the chiefs find it difficult to pay the registration fee because it’s a bit expensive. So what am I going to do? We are going to provide free registration for all the chiefs.”

In a separate question, Dr Bawumia addressed the controversial National Cathedral project, urging the church to take the lead in finding a way forward, including exploring private-sector funding options.

“The question on the National Cathedral is a very important one. The National Cathedral, I have contributed to it personally and I believe it is a very important thing for Ghana but I think as it stands now, the church has to come together with the government and let us sit down and talk about the way forward for the National Cathedral.

“The church should come together and let’s know the best way forward, how we can even get private resources to help us complete the Cathedral.”

By: Hanson Agyemang