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 were required to pay their annual ground rent when due, whether or not they had received a demand notice.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, he said the Commission had collected GH¢40.7 million in ground rent as of August 2026, representing 90.4 percent of its annual target of GH¢45 million. The amount exceeded the GH¢32.02 million collected in 2025.

He urged defaulters to settle their outstanding payments promptly and encouraged lessees whose leases had expired to begin the renewal process to avoid possible legal consequences.

Professor Owusu-Ansah said the Commission was pursuing broader reforms to modernise land administration, improve accountability and restore public confidence in the management of land in Ghana.

He highlighted the ongoing review of the 1999 National Land Policy, with a new policy expected in 2027. He also said proposed regulations for the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), were before Parliament for consideration.

The Commission is also expanding its Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS), which has reduced the turnaround time for official land searches from about one month to an average of seven working days in areas where the digital service is operational.

Providing further details on the reforms, the Project Coordinator of the Strategic Land Administration Reform Project (SLARP), Surv Jones Ofori-Boadu, said the project was designed to address longstanding challenges in land administration, including fragmented records, outdated maps, manual processes and delays in service delivery.

He noted that Ghana’s most recent national topographic maps dated back to 1974, underscoring the need for updated mapping and improved sharing of spatial data among public institutions.

Surv Ofori-Boadu said the project would also support customary land secretariats, boundary demarcation and the development of government land banks for commercial agriculture.

The broader objective, he said, was to establish a more transparent, accessible and efficient land administration system.

SLARP will support the digitisation of records held by the Lands Commission and the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, expand land administration services to the district level, strengthen systematic land titling and develop a national cadastre.