Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, has asked officials of the Land Administration Project (LAP) to be conversant with the history of lands in Ghana.
He said it was important for them to study ownership, customary and traditional arrangements and practices regarding lands in various parts of the country before taking steps to administer lands.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu said this when officials of the LAP paid a courtesy on him at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, to brief him on the end of the LAP Phase One project and commencement of work on LAP Phase Two.
They included Mr Charles Annor-Frimpong, LAP Task Team Leader from the World Bank, Ms Anna Antwi, Technical Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and acting Director of the Project as well as representatives from the Canadian Development International Agency.
He noted that the various Regions in the country have acquired lands through different means.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu explained that the study of lands history would assist the officials to effectively demarcate boundaries of lands to help prevent litigations among chiefs.
He said in Asanteman the Asantehene had entrusted lands into the stools to take care on behalf of the Golden Stool.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu cited that when he elevates a stool to a paramount status, he allows the stool to benefit fully from land proceeds for the development of the new traditional area.
He said it was imperative that when government wants to acquire land on behalf of the State, it was important and obligatory to pay adequate compensation as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Annor-Frimpong said that the LAP One which commenced in 2003 was due to end in June next year with the objective to scale up activities in the Phase Two.
He said unlike LAP One, which was implemented nationwide, the Phase Two would be implemented in a few selected regions namely, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western and Northern.
Mr Annor-Frimpong said Ashanti Region was selected because it has a fairly cohesive single traditional authority, making it an advantageous area for scaling up the development of traditional land administration systems.
He said the Phase Two project would be implemented through four main components to strengthen land administration systems, improve business processes for service delivery, improve maps and spatial data and human resource development and project management.
As part of the preparatory activities for commencement of LAP Two, the World Bank and other development partners together with the LAP Secretariat are organizing series of stakeholders' consultations to deliberate on proposals for the project.