President John Dramani Mahama has lifted the temporary ban on state land transactions, which was imposed earlier this year.

The ban was announced in an official statement dated January 10 and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, citing the need to protect public lands for the benefit of current and future generations.

Eight months on, President Mahama, yesterday, Tuesday, September 2, announced that he has lifted the ban on all land transactions.

He made this announcement during his speech at the inauguration of the newly constituted Board of the Lands Commission on Tuesday, September 2, highlighting that the pause exposed major shortcomings in the country’s land transactions, which called for a reset.

“In pursuit of this reform agenda, my government placed a temporary ban on all state land transactions to enable a thorough review of existing processes. That exercise has yielded valuable insights into the weaknesses of our current system and the urgent reforms that are required. So today, with the integration of the new commission and the adoption of robust accountability measures, I'm pleased to announce that the ban on land transactions has been lifted,” President Mahama explained.

Following the review, the President urged all stakeholders to join the reset train and not to return to business “as usual,” citing four major reset pillars set to be implemented to sanitise land transactions in Ghana.

“Henceforth, all land transactions—allocation, lease, or sale—must strictly comply with transparent processes, digital verification, and oversight mechanisms. The lifting of this ban must not signal a return to business as usual. It is a signal that a new, disciplined era of land management has begun

“That is why we are embarking on a bold reset, an agenda that is rooted in four pillars: To restore public confidence in land administration through transparency, fairness, and justice. To reverse illegal land transactions, reclaim encroached lands, and protect public assets. To digitise, modernise, and decentralise land services to ensure access and efficiency. To harmonise customary and statutory land systems to promote equity and coherence,” he noted.

Consequently, President Mahama has directed the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Lands Commission to immediately undertake a comprehensive audit of all state lands allocated, leased, or sold, particularly between 2017 and 2024.

According to him, “This audit will cover lands acquired for schools, hospitals, public institutions, forests, and ecological zones unlawfully converted to private use. Any transaction tainted by conflict of interest, abuse of power, or political patronage will be reversed, and the land will be recovered by the government by law”.

The president expressed his disdain for the current land administration system, describing it as broken and riddled with confusion, corruption, and violence, which has sunk public trust in land governance to an all-time low.

“Our land administration system has become a symbol of everything we seek to change in Ghana: confusion, conflict, and expropriation. Public confidence in land governance is at an all-time low. Land acquisition is fraught with multiple sales, unending litigation, extortion, and even violence.“These problems persist in rural, peri-urban, and predominantly urban areas, nowhere more pronounced than in the Greater Accra Region, which is the capital region. From the illegal alienation of forest reserves in the Eastern Region to the conversion of public lands in the North, we've witnessed a national tragedy of greed, impunity, and dysfunction,” he added.

He blamed the country’s “broken” land administration system on individuals connected to the corridors of power, who wield their influence for personal gain rather than for the good of the general public, lamenting the takeovers of prime lands by these individuals.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the unrestrained dissipation of state lands is not the work of the ordinary Ghanaian citizen. It is spearheaded by influential individuals who wield public office not as a trust but as a personal entitlement.

“ Prime government lands, ecological buffer zones, school land reserves, forest enclaves, Ramsar sites, and even lagoons have been appropriated by individuals who had been given the responsibility of protecting them. This must end with this commission,” he lamented.

“Over the years, these actions by corrupt individuals have consistently led to Ghana’s land administration system being flagged as one of the most corrupt, making it one of the institutions most in need of urgent reform.

“Indeed, no area of our national life is in greater need of a reset than our land administration system. Our ancestors taught us that land is sacred. However, successive years of mismanagement, compounded by political interference and institutional decay, have left our land governance system broken and vulnerable. Independent anti-corruption surveys have consistently ranked the Lands Commission amongst the most distrusted institutions in our country. Public lands made for the benefit of all Ghanaians have been illegally sold, rezoned, or encroached upon with little accountability or consequences,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, following the president’s announcement on the ban on state land transactions, the Minority caucus in Parliament demanded the immediate reversal. Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, July 15, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Subin, Kofi Obiri Yeboah, admitted the President’s intention to safeguard public lands.

However, he expressed concerns about the potential of the directive to halt economic activity and disrupt the works of legitimate land owners.

“Although the President’s decision may aim at safeguarding public lands, these directives may also affect individuals and corporate entities who may have legitimately acquired interests in these lands,” the MP said. They further argued that if the government genuinely believes the private sector is the engine of growth, then such a ban undermines its own economic principles.

Consequently, the MP admonished the government to “...as a matter of urgency, should lift the ban”.

The MPs also expressed concern about potential revenue losses to the state, noting that the Lands Commission generates significant income through stamp duties, consent fees, and lease preparations, all of which contribute to the Consolidated Fund.

“Revenue generated by the Lands Commission through stamp duties, consent fees, lease reparation fees, premium costs, and all charges embedded in offer letters will, by virtue of this directive, become non-existent. This revenue loss will adversely affect the Consolidated Fund,” they warned.