The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Saumel Abu Jinapor, has stated that the delay by the Lands
Commission to provide data on government lands is as a result of the herculean effort involved in gathering the data
from the sixteen regions of Ghana.
Jinapor was reacting to concerns by the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament that the main cause of the
fraudulent dealings in lands in Ghana was as a result of the failure of the Lands Commission to provide data
requested for.
In that wise the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament has rebuked the Lands Commission for failing to
provide data on public lands and their use over the years.
The Committee contended that the data was required to combat fraudulent activities, which included the registration
of government lands as private lands.
During the committee's hearing on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Chairman, stated
that all efforts to obtain the documents from the Lands Commission over the last two years had failed.
He said: "If this data is put together and provided, it will help all of us. These instances of government lands being
registered as private lands and the fraud that is going on at the Lands Commission, as exposed by the Soul Enquirer,
the only way to stem this, to prevent this, to forestall this, is to have the data, to put the data together.
"That is why I am clear in my mind that there are elements at the Lands Commission who don’t want the Ghanaian
people to have this data," Mr. Ablakwa added.
Mr. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, appeared before the Committee and
provided some justification for the Lands Commission's delay in releasing the data.
He said: "Mr. Chairman, the Lands Commission for all these years has been operating manually and it is just
recently that we have started making efforts to digitise the records of the Lands Commission.
"The information I have from the Commission since I gave them the instructions to compile this list is that
compiling the list from the 16 regions of the Lands Commission across the country from 1993 to now is an
extraordinary undertaking and therefore, they have not been able to put it all together as yet. And so, I am unable to
provide it now, but there is work in progress."
(Based on a story by Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA, with additional files from Editorial Team).
