The impact of decentralized land administration in the Western Region: The case of Tarkwa Municipality

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Date
2021-06-30
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Abstract
Decentralizing land administration is vital since land is an essential factor of production. The Lands Commission in its quest to become the center of excellence for land services delivery set up a district office in Tarkwa Municipality in 2007 to ensure that land services are accessed at the district level. This has however been subject to criticisms in recent times by some of the staff of the Lands Commission and the general public. The aim of the research was to investigate the extent to which land administration has been decentralized in Tarkwa Municipality while the objectives of the study were to identify the reasons responsible for the establishment of the Tarkwa Municipal Lands Commission Office, to identify the structure and mode of operation of the Tarkwa Municipal Land Commission office, to seek the views of land owners in Tarkwa Municipality on the extent to which they can initiate and complete a service application at the Tarkwa Municipal Lands Commission and to identify the challenges associated with the decentralization of land administration in Tarkwa. The study revealed that the objectives for setting up the Tarkwa Municipal Lands Commission was among other things to bring land administration closer to the doorstep of the people within the municipality and increase revenue mobilization. It also revealed that the people within Tarkwa Municipality were unable to initiate a service application at Tarkwa Lands Commission, specifically P.V.L.M.D due to the absence of a Client Service Access Unit (CSAU) to serve as an interface between the Staff of the Lands Commission and the general public in Tarkwa. It also revealed that the Division had been recording decreasing revenues in terms of ground rent from 2011 to 2016. In conclusion, decentralized land administration in the Tarkwa Municipality needs to be revised with regards to the provision of logistics and statutory powers to operate as this has the potential of increasing the revenue base of the Lands Commission and truly bringing land administration closer to the doorstep of those within Tarkwa Municipality
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science.
Keywords
decentralized land administration, Tarkwa Municipality
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