Dr. Bawumia proposes free land registration for Chiefs to resolve disputes
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, has unveiled plans to tackle longstanding land disputes in Ghana by offering free land registration for chiefs and digitising the land tenure system.
Speaking to the clergy in the Greater Accra Region, Dr. Bawumia highlighted that high registration fees have deterred chiefs from formalising land ownership, contributing to numerous disputes.
He advocated for modernising the land tenure system, drawing parallels with advanced countries where land ownership information is readily 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”, Dr. Bawumia explained.
To address this, he proposed providing free registration for all chiefs, acknowledging that the cost has been a significant barrier.
“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”, he announced.
In addition, Dr. Bawumia touched on the controversial National Cathedral project, urging the church to lead efforts in securing private-sector funding to complete it.
“The National Cathedral is important for Ghana. I have personally contributed to it. The church and government need to collaborate and explore private funding options to finish the Cathedral,” he stated.
