Private Entity Partners Lands Commission On 5-Year Transformational Agenda – Benito Owusu-Bio OWUSU-BIO
A Ghanaian Land Administration Company; PDB Limited, has come on board to partner the Lands Commission on it’s total transformational drive directed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor at the back of calls for imporved service delivery and the recent UN report on corruption in the Commission.
This was revealed by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio, when he paid a working visit to the Clients Service Access Unit of the Commission, on Tuesday, 19th September, 2023 to among others inspect their level of operations since the recent reformation processes began.
The Deputy Minister in an interview with the media disclosed that processes on documentation of this partnership are far advanced with all due processes strictly being carried out including procurement processes, Ministry of Finance approval, among others.
The company when given the nod he noted will be partnering the Commission on this reformation drive for the next 5-years with an investment of some 85milion US Dollars, as government’s funds will not be able to foot such a budget to emback on the total reformation intended.
Deputy Minister also opined that proper auditing will be done with government consultants engaged to ensure that the Lands Commission is not short changed in this whole partnership agreement.
As part of his inspection visit, the Deputy took a tour of the Client Service Access Unit to get a first hand experience of the processes client’s go through on various services available at the office.
He requested for a demonstration of services rendered to different clients who visit the Commission for collection of land documents, bulk stamping, title registration, enquiries among others and also engaged some clients on their thoughts on the new service delivery.
Having taken a tour of the facility, Hon. Benito applauded the new system of operation at the CSAU and hoped that these reforms will help erode the negative impression Ghanaians have about the Lands Commission and it’s activities.
Speaking to the details of this partnership, Mr. Benjamin Arthur, the New Ag.Executive Secretary (ES) of the Commission, said the company is not only partnering on some part of the transformation, but for a total transformation of the Lands Commission which will span for a period of 5-years.
He noted that the drive will help improve on key areas of the Lands Commission including mapping of the entire country, human reform, training, retraining and capacity building of staff, digital reformation, structural reformation, administrative reformation, among others.
The ES noted that this new mapping will be made available in a format that can be readily accessible to all national agencies who will have need for it.
Mr. Arthur was optimistic that all these reformations taking place at the Commission, will not only help keep better records of the country’s Lands but also drastically improve on the service delivery of the entire Commission.
Meanwhile, The Honorable Deputy Minister made an appearance at the 2-Day National Lands Commission Board Meeting being held in Accra from 19th-20th September, 2023.
