Ghana's Lands Commission sues ground rent defaulters as collections near target
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Ghana's Lands Commission has begun legal proceedings against lessees of state and vested lands who have failed to pay annual ground rent, warning that enforcement will be fully rolled out in 2027.
The Lands Commission has initiated legal proceedings against lessees of state and vested lands who have defaulted on ground rent payments, warning that enforcement measures are expected to be fully implemented in 2027.
The commission's Executive Secretary, Professor Anthony Owusu-Ansah, said all lessees are required to pay their annual ground rent when due, whether or not they have received a demand notice. Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, he said the commission had collected GH¢40.7 million in ground rent as of August 2026, representing 90.4 per cent of its GH¢45 million annual target and exceeding the GH¢32.02 million collected in 2025.
He urged defaulters to settle outstanding payments promptly and encouraged lessees whose leases have expired to begin the renewal process to avoid legal consequences. Prof Owusu-Ansah said the commission is pursuing wider reforms to modernise land administration, improve accountability and restore public confidence in the management of land in Ghana.
Those reforms include a review of the 1999 National Land Policy, with a new policy expected in 2027, while proposed regulations for the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) are before Parliament. The commission is also expanding its Enterprise Land Information System, which has cut the turnaround time for official land searches from about one month to an average of seven working days where the digital service operates.
The Project Coordinator of the Strategic Land Administration Reform Project (SLARP), Surv. Jones Ofori-Boadu, said the project is designed to address fragmented records, outdated maps, manual processes and delays in service delivery, noting that Ghana's most recent national topographic maps date back to 1974.
SLARP will also support customary land secretariats, boundary demarcation and government land banks for commercial agriculture, and is to digitise records held by the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, expand land administration services to district level, strengthen systematic land titling and develop a national cadastre.