Ghana Lands Commission: What They Do and Why It Matters
Before you send money for that plot in Accra, you need to understand where the official record lives in Ghana.
The Lands Commission is the public institution that runs Ghana’s core land administration system. In plain terms: they register land interests, keep the official land registers, manage public and vested lands for the state, and hold the survey and mapping records that define what a parcel even is.
If you’re buying from abroad, the Commission is where you verify whether the land is already on record, whether someone else is already registered, and whether there are red flags tied to that parcel.
What the Lands Commission Actually Does
The Commission’s work is split across key divisions. For buyers, these are the ones that matter most:
1. Title and deed registration (Land Registration Division)
They register title in compulsory title registration districts, and they also register deeds and other instruments affecting land outside those districts. They maintain the land registers and records of registered interests.
2. Survey and mapping (Survey and Mapping Division)
They keep official survey records and plans, and they regulate and preserve the mapping and boundary data that your site plan should match.
3. Land valuation (Land Valuation Division)
They do valuation work tied to land administration, including compensation valuation and stamp duty assessment work that shows up in land transactions.
4. Public and vested lands management (Public and Vested Lands Management Division)
They manage state-acquired lands and vested lands, and they handle government-facing land administration work.
Regional offices exist across the country, and the Land Registration Division is the one you’ll interact with most when you’re verifying a parcel or registering an instrument.
Why This Matters When You’re Buying from Abroad
Ghana has multiple land categories operating at once:
- Stool/skin lands under traditional authorities
- Family lands held under customary lineage structures
- State lands and vested lands managed through the state system
A chief (or family head) can grant you an interest. That’s real in the customary system. The problem is priority and proof when money starts moving and third parties show up.
If you do not register the instrument affecting the land, you leave yourself exposed to:
- multiple sales,
- later competing claims getting filed first,
- and disputes where your paperwork exists, but your position is weak when it matters.
The Two Outputs You Should Care About
Think in terms of two things: what the Commission says about the land today, and what the Commission records about you after you buy.
1. Official Search Report (before you pay)
This is the safest starting point. You request a search on the parcel/site plan, and you get an official report based on Commission records.
2. Registration of your instrument (after you buy)
Depending on where the land sits and what system applies, what you walk away with can look different:
- Title registration outcome (often referred to as a Land Certificate) in title registration districts. Strong, but not magic. Registered title can still be subject to entries on the register and certain “overriding” interests that can bind land even if they are not written on the register.
- Registered deed/instrument (deeds registration) in areas outside compulsory title registration districts. This is still important because an instrument affecting land is not meant to sit outside the system.
If a seller tells you, “You don’t need to register, the indenture is enough,” treat that as a warning flag.
One Diaspora Detail People Miss
If you are not a Ghanaian citizen, you generally cannot hold a freehold interest. The standard structure is a leasehold, and the maximum term for a non-citizen is limited. If someone is selling you “99 years” and you are a non-citizen, that needs to be corrected before you pay.
How to Use the Lands Commission to Protect Yourself
Step 1: Do an official search before any deposit
Use the Commission process (or have your lawyer do it) and get the search report in writing.
In Greater Accra, the Commission’s service charter lists 14 working days for searches, with a published fee schedule (for example, up to 1 acre priced separately from additional acreage). Fees can vary by region and can change, so treat any random “street price” quote as noise.
Step 2: Verify the site plan against Commission records
Fake and recycled plans are part of how people get trapped. Your plan has to match what the Commission can recognize and trace.
Step 3: Make sure required consents are in place (where applicable)
For stool/skin and some customary grants, the right approvals matter. Missing consent or concurrence is how transactions later get attacked.
Step 4: Register quickly after execution
Do not let months pass. Delay is where competing filings thrive.
The Honest Truth About Timelines
The law sets a processing timeline for title registration once the Commission has accepted all required documents. In practice, audits have found that many applications were processed beyond the target timeline, tied to internal bottlenecks across divisions, staffing constraints, and weak monitoring.
So yes, expect friction. Still, skipping searches and skipping registration is the fast path to expensive problems.
What the Commission Can’t Do
Be realistic:
- They don’t “solve” chieftaincy and customary authority disputes for you.
- They cannot make a bad seller honest.
- They cannot turn unidentifiable land into clean land without the right underlying documentation.
- They can’t guarantee you will never be challenged, even after registration.
Use the Commission as a verification and recording tool. Pair it with a lawyer who is actually doing diligence, not just stamping papers.
Key Contact
Lands Commission (Head Office)
Cantonments, Accra (Second Circular Road)
Use the official contact page for phone and email details.
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