Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is set to implement major interventions to scale up the commencement of Ghana’s Land Administration Reform Project before the end of the year.

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Lands and Forestry, Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, disclosed this at an engagement with news editors in Accra on Monday.

The meeting was to set the record straight on a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in 2021 which placed the Lands Commission as the 4th public sector agency in Ghana, where corruption was most prevalent and 1st in terms of average bribe size.

He stated that the meeting was to inform citizens about the Commission's position on the report and to further explore some creative techniques being implemented by the ministry to create a robust land service delivery system that is focused and results-driven.

Mr Owusu-Bio acknowledged that the Lands Commission's nature of work and present infrastructure has enabled middlemen to operate and exploit naive clients.

He did, however, state that Commission staff who were brought before a court for stamp duty fraud are presently being scrutinized for possible punishment if found guilty, adding that, the disciplinary measure would serve as a deterrence to other personnel.

He reassured Ghanaians of the Commission's commitment to provide efficient and enhanced service to its clients.

Addressing the UN report, the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Mr James Dadson, indicated several novel actions to help resolve the issue in a presentation. These include, among other things, the digitisation of land administration services, a modernised records management system, a delivery and compliance dashboard, online payment of fees and receipts and infrastructure development.

He cited several problems influencing the Commission's outputs, including several property sales, insufficient equipment and tools, and public non-use of professionals, among others.

He stated that, under the supervision of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Lands Commission has begun steps to engage private-sector experts to modify the Lands Commission's operations.