Press spotlights charge on Lands Commission to digitise land acquisition, others

By Agence de Presse Africaine Last updated Dec 9, 2022

APA– Accra President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’ s call on the Lands Commission to expedite action on digitisation process of land acquisition dominates the headlines of Ghanaian press on Thursday. The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has charged the Lands Commission to expedite action on digitisation process of land…

APA – Accra (Ghana) President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s call on the Lands Commission to expedite action on digitisation process of land acquisition dominates the headlines of Ghanaian press on Thursday.

The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has charged the Lands Commission to expedite action on digitisation process of land acquisition.

Addressing the maiden National Land Conference, organised by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in Accra on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, President Akufo-Addo stated that in this technologically advanced age, it is unacceptable that many sectors of the economy still operate in a largely manual environment.

“We cannot deliver an efficient land administration, if documents on land have to be processed manually. We must, therefore, expedite action on the digitalisation process, and ensure that the Commission goes fully digital. As you go into technical discussions, it is my hope that this will be key on your agenda,’’ he said.

Reiterating the significance of land to socio-economic development of the country, the President noted that a rapidly growing population, coupled with competing uses of land, continue to put immense pressure on our land resources.

According to the President, it is for this reason that, “during the first term of my presidency, we prioritised the passage of the Land Bill, which had been in the draft stage for some twenty (20) years.”

The Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), which he assented to on 23rd December 2020, the President explained, “revises, harmonises and consolidates laws on land to ensure sustainable land administration and management, as well as effective and efficient land tenure systems.”

Successive Governments have sought, through numerous initiatives, to improve Ghana’s land administration regime. The most significant intervention has been the Land Administration Project (LAP), Phases 1 and 2, which sought to lay the foundation, and consolidate urban and rural land administration and management systems for efficient and transparent land service delivery.

The newspaper says that Financial Stability Council (FSC) has announced that it has begun a process to establish a fund that will provide liquidity to financial institutions that participate fully in Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange programme.

Known as the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (GFSF), the fund is being established with a target size of GH₵15 billion to be provided by the government and its development partners.

The FSC in a statement issued today said all financial institutions (banks, SDIs, pension schemes, collective investment schemes, fund managers, broker/dealers, insurance firms) that fully participate in the Debt Exchange can access the GFSF for augmented liquidity support, with effect from the date of completion of the Debt Exchange programme.

“The Fund will be managed by the Bank of Ghana under unique operational guidelines being developed by the Financial Stability Council. The Financial Stability Council will provide ongoing advice and oversight for the use of the GFSF,” the statement said.

The Financial Stability Council was established in December 2018 by Executive Instrument, to “identify and evaluate the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks to the stability of the financial sector”.

The Council is chaired by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and has members from the Bank of Ghana (Deputy Governor), Ministry of Finance (Deputy Minister), Securities and Exchange Commission (Director General), National Insurance Commission (Commissioner), National Pensions Regulatory Authority (Chief Executive Officer), and Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation (Chief Executive Officer).

The Debt Exchange programme launched by the government on December 5, 2022, is an invitation for the voluntary exchange of approximately GH₵137 billion of the domestic notes and bonds of the Republic, including E.S.L.A. and Daakye bonds, for a package of new bonds to be issued by the Republic.

The Exchange excludes Treasury Bills in totality, and notes and bonds held by individuals (natural persons).

The Ghanaian Times reports that the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has urged the central bank to review its strategy of an upward adjustment in the policy rate to check inflation.

AGI thinks that the approach has over the period failed to address the challenge with inflation currently standing at over 40 per cent despite consistent hikes in the policy rate.

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of AGI, Tsonam Akpeloo, in an interview with Citinewsroom.com argued that the approach only crowds out the private sector from accessing critical resources to sustain their operations.

“We are just appealing to the central bank to consider the plight of the private sector and know that the more they increase, the more they crowd out the private sector, and the more we are unable to buy the loans that we need to be able to expand our production,” he said.

He added that more sustainable alternatives must be adopted to protect the business community.

“AGI is extremely concerned about the continuous increase of policy rate to deal with inflation. This trend has been continuing for the past couple of months if not years and we believe that it’s not yielding the desired result and so the central bank should discontinue that approach of using increasing policy rate as a mechanism of dealing with inflation,” he said.

“As it is now, everybody knows that despite the increases we’ve seen in the policy rate, the inflation rate is still going up. So we can’t continue to solve a problem that is not being solved with a measure that is not achieving the result we desire,” he stressed.

The Bank of Ghana recently increased its policy rate by 2.5 percentage points to 27 per cent, citing risks to inflation and exchange rate concerns.

This implies that the cost of borrowing in the country is anticipated to increase further, however it will depend on the customer’s risk profile. Customers with established credit may get slightly better rates than first-time borrowers or those who are viewed as being at risk.

The newspaper says that six labour unions have kicked against the imposition of cuts on pension funds as part of the debt exchange programme aimed at supporting the country’s economic recovery.

They include Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Ghana Chamber of Commerce and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The unions have therefore vowed to resist any attempt by government to reduce the value of pension funds of their members which are in institutional bonds.

In a statement signed and issued by Thomas Musah, General Secretary of GNAT, the association said, it was not interested in any exchange of domestic notes and bonds by government, be it ESLA Plc, Daakye Trust Plc, adding that “our stance is non-negotiable.”

It noted that the Tier-3 Pension Scheme and the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme (GESOPS), run for its members were initiatives taken by the association to better the lives of its members in active service, and retirement.

The statement said the financial schemes were intended to make its members live meaningfully saying that “it would be suicidal for the government to touch our funds and unruffle our teachers financially, both in active service and retirement.”

It cautioned, that the contributions and savings of teachers, should not be touched adding that failure to heed the caution would throw the country into industrial disturbances.

The statement said the association would fiercely and vigorously resist any attempt to touch the contributions and savings that would shortchange its members.

It urged the government to address the economic challenges facing the country not at the expense of the Ghanaian workers and the general population by being prudent in government expenditure, thrift, reduction in size of government, among others.

At a press conference in Accra, President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, warned that if the government proceeds with its plan, union and other labour unions in the country would embark on an industrial strike.

GIK/APA