Kumasi, Feb. 17, GNA - Mr Justice I.R. Aboagye, Chairman of the Lands Commission, on Tuesday called on the staff of the commission to reflect on its falling image.

"We must be bold to admit that some of us by our actions have given cause to the public to perceive the commission as corrupt and the cause of all the mess in the land sector."

Addressing the opening of a five-day workshop and review forum on good governance and land administration in Ghana in Kumasi, Mr Justice Aboagye said as public officers, they needed to perform their duties with diligence, honesty and transparency.

We must from today aim at reversing the wrong impression people have about us, he charged.

The workshop, which had as its theme: "Good Governance - Tool for Ensuring Sound Land Administration Practices In Ghana", was being attended by staff drawn from the office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, Land title Registry, Survey Department, Department of Town and Country Planning, the Lands Commission Secretariat, Regional Lands offices and traditional rulers.

Mr Justice Aboagye pointed out that the land administration system in the country was bedevilled with numerous setbacks culminating in conflicting claims to ownership of land, insecurity of land title and encroachment on public lands.

Again, there is lack of well-structured, reliable, accessible and up-to-date records on the various lands in the country, he added. This is a far deviation from the cardinal principles of land administration, which required accurate recording and dissemination of information regarding ownership, value and use, he held.

The general public including the business community and investors depend on the Lands Commission for such information.

The Lands Commission Chairman said in the context of the Commission, good governance means the adoption of good and sound measures for the responsible management of the country's land resources. He therefore, urged the participants to focus on this, as good governance could contribute, in no small measure towards the solution of the numerous problems confronting land administration in the country.

Mr Justice Aboagye said the completion and implementation of an on-going Land Administration Project (LAP) would help eliminate of some of the problems in the land sector.

He said for the first time in the history of the commission, a draft operational manual, which is to guide the commission in its administrative and other operations, had been developed for discussion and possible adoption.

Madam Theresa Naa Ameley Tagoe, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forestry, said land had an immeasurable spiritual and material significance for Ghanaians.

"It is the source of our socio-economic sustenance, gives us our unique cultural identity and our oneness as a nation is embedded in land."

For wealth creation, she said, land was the nation's basic and greatest asset, consequently, its sustainable management through good administrative practices was therefore of utmost priority to the government.

The Deputy Minister said though the government was committed to the pursuit of good governance, it cannot be achieved on a silver platter and told the participants that as managers of this precious resource, their contribution was indispensable.

Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante, Omanhene of Asokore, who stood in for the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, said the state administration of land had proved to be the most inefficient and unproductive undertakings in the public sector.

Nor can it confidently be asserted that the management of forestry by state officials has enhanced the nation's forestry resources, he added.

Nana Krobea Asante said state agencies should not only desist from depriving stools as landowners of their legitimate revenue but should consult them for appropriate inputs in the management of these natural resources.

What traditional authorities need from state agencies with respect to the administration of stool lands generally is not deprivation or stifling controls but sound technical advice and support in harnessing the resources for the benefit of the entire community.

Nana Asante pointed out that the deprivation of stool resources diminishes the capacity of chiefs to deliver the social and economic services expected of them.