Levels of public authority in Ghana and the problem of allocating resources between them

Ghana is a unitary state and a constitutional republic with 3 levels of government: national, local, and chieftaincy. Ghana encourages a bottom-up approach in which development planning is initiated at the community level and agreed upon at the district, regional and national levels.

Public hearings to get opinions from local populations are needed both at the community and district levels. For example, article 35 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana requires that the State take appropriate measures to ensure the administrative safety of financial decentralization and empowering people to participate in decision-making at all levels of national life, and management".

In this regard, local self-government is enshrined in articles 240.2 and 241.3 of the Constitution, which remains the main relevant legislative act of the country.

However, there is also the Local Government Act of 2016 (Law 936) which equally remains an effective legal act in Ghana’s political dispensation.
Nevertheless, the constitution places significant importance on the role of chiefs in the affairs of the state.

For example; chapter 22 of the 1992 constitution defines the various roles of chieftaincy unions such as the National House of Chiefs and the regional house of chiefs.

Section 270 of Chapter 22 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides for the existence of chiefs. According to article 277 for example, "chief" means a person, who hails from the appropriate family and lineage, has been validly nominated, elected or selected and enstooled, enskinned or installed as a chief or queen mother by the relevant customary law and usage.

Ghana is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of possession of natural resources. According to World Bank estimates, in 2015 approximately 41% of Ghana's territory was covered with forests.

Ghana’s Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, also estimated that approximately 10% of the country's population also depended on the fishing sector.

By the Ghana Mining Policy 2014 year, Ghana has a huge amount of minerals within its borders, from gold to diamonds, which are important natural resources for the global economy. In the year of review, it was estimated that on average Ghana’s mining sector accounts for 5% of the GDP of the country.

Minerals in Ghana are mainly mined for the export market, and, according to government estimates, mineral resources account for approximately 40% of the country's total exports.

Gold was equal to about 90% of the minerals exported annually from the country. In 2017 and 2018, Ghana was ranked 9th and 10th places respectively as the world's largest gold producer (p. 8, Mining Chamber
Ghana based on the results of the mining industry in Ghana, 2018).

In 2009, Ghana produced 370,000 carats of rough diamonds. In 2014
the country became one of the largest producers of rough diamonds and other raw materials. Ghana is said to have between 5 and 7 billion barrels of oil reserves making this country the 6th largest in Africa and the 25th largest in the world in terms of the world's proven oil reserves.

The country also has undeveloped iron ore deposits, limestone, brown clay, kaolin, mica, feldspar, quartz sand, quartz, salt, etc. There are small deposits of ilmenite, magnetite and rutile. (Ghana's Minerals and Energy Policy
the mining industry, 2014)

The possession of such large quantities of resources means effective and efficient management is needed but the situation has only proven to be a nightmare for many Ghanaians despite the structures laid.

Talking about structure, even though individuals and legal entities have the right to own land(s) and real estate, including a forest reserve, mining sites, etc. (Article 18.1 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana) through legal means provided by the state with exception of cases provided for in article 266 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, Lands are mostly owned by traditional authorities /Chiefs (stools, clans and families) (article 267 of 1992 Constitution of Ghana).

The house of Chiefs(national /regional) participates in all large-scale projects, land seizures for mining and other purposes, such as
agriculture under a renewable lease for up to 99 years (ObengOdoom 2014).


The chiefs own about 78% of all lands, only about 20% are owned by the government, and the remaining 2% is owned by the government and other authorities in the form of a partnership (shared ownership). The 78% is what has become known as traditional lands.

Traditional lands represent all the different categories of land rights and interests within traditional systems. Rules governing the purchase, sale or transfer of these rights are usually well-known but are usually not recorded in written form (Bower, 1993).

Such ownership can occur via discovery and long continuous settlement; conquest through war and subsequent settlement; a gift from another party, a group of landowners or a traditional overlord; or purchased from another group that owns the land.

However, the major problem remains delineating resources between these levels.
The role of the Government is to implement the state policy mostly in the management of resources in different regions. Government policies are implemented through government agencies, and local governments and include municipal entities, and regional and district assemblies.

The head of the local government is the District Chief Executive (Article 243 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana), which reports to the regional minister (Article 255.2), and the Regional Minister also reports to the Minister of Local Government.

All of these people are appointed by the President of Ghana. So, within the framework of the Constitution, the local government is only a branch of the central government and account to the president.

According to Article 20 (1) of the Constitution, " no property of any description, rights to it, or rights to any property may be forcibly taken into possession or acquired by the state, except for the following cases: in cases where the acquisition or taking over of it is necessary in the interests of the state such as in areas of defence, public safety, public order, public morals, public health, urban and rural planning or development or use in such a way as to contribute to the public development.

This means that the state can't use its discretion to seize lands without the consent of the owners
property, except for the cases provided for by the exceptions.

The main problem occurs when certain resources as determined by the Ghana Minerals Commission is found at specific sites ,for example, on lands that are not owned by the government.

Section 1 of the Ghana Minerals and Mining Act 2006 states that all minerals are entrusted to the President of the Republic of Ghana on behalf of the state, and the President may purchase land or authorize its occupation and use in accordance with applicable legislation. (Article 2 of the Minerals and Mineral Extraction Act of 2006).

This means that if you find gold on your land, it does not belong to you, but belongs to the state, so even if, you find it on your land, you should inform the Government through the Minerals and mining Commission.

Because of this, there have been considerably some level of conflicts, especially between the individuals and government officials as well as the chiefs and the government over the use of traditional lands.

This is mainly because, public benefits from the Government's mining activities have not been realized, as mining leases are mainly granted by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (Section 34 of the Minerals and Mining Act 2006) to foreign companies and individuals (p. 4, Ghana Mining Industry Review) which are believed to be based on their interests, and not on the interests of the state.

Mining communities such as Obuasi and Tarkwa remain some of the poorest regions in Ghana.

Secondly, even though the Law on Mineral Resources and mining operations 2006 contain very useful provisions such as compensation for injured people as a result of mining activities, recruitment and training of indigenous people
residents of mining companies in a particular region, the assistance of courts in claiming compensation if necessary, etc. All that seems to exist only in theory, but not in practice due to excessive corruption.

This argument also supports the arguments of Kotey (2002) and (Larbi et al.,2003) that the acquisition of something in the public interest may result in
the acquisition by the state not only for government agencies and public corporations but also for private companies and individuals for purposes that, although they may insignificantly contribute to the public health or
welfare, bring direct enormous benefits, including profit, to the user to a much greater extent than to society. Examples may include the provision of hotels, private homes, development, banks, etc.

A vague definition of public benefit gives a situation where forced acquisition may be subject to abuse, just like in the case of Ghana.