Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, the Chief Justice of the Republic, has bemoaned the present state of land administration in the country and its effect on investors.

She said investors got caught in the mire of ownership contestations and this was costing the nation its economic development and urged stakeholders, including traditional leaders, to consider the effects.

The Chief Justice raised the alarm in Ho on Thursday while opening the 2023 Chief Justice Forum and called on the traditional authorities to partner the Judicial service in building a database of all land ownership for prompt adjudication.

“Allow me on this occasion to touch on an aspect of justice delivery that is presenting huge blockade to the administration of justice and investment within our society – The subject of land administration. The subject of the proper administration of land and ownership has now become an extremely sour point, that the courts need the active attention of our houses of chiefs and ethnic leaderships on.

“When evidence is compromised by inconsistencies, contradictions and alleged parallel lines of leadership, investors become trapped within these consistencies and contradictions. They are carried over to courts to resolve issues that have arisen out of these inconsistencies and contradictions, and citizens, who only wish to plan their lives and pursue wealth creation, becomes victims of the pains caused by unclear land ownership lines.

“It is my deep and sincere cry to the houses of chiefs to begin to pay close attention to creating clear records of ownership of lands within the various paramountcies – whether the land ownership is vested in families, clans or stools.

“As custodians of customs, please allow the courts to look to you for support in building this pillar of justice-a database of land ownership in our country. This will assist in early and prompt resolution of what has become an almost excruciating path of justice delivery, and a huge disincentive to investments in the country for both citizens and foreigners, individuals and corporate bodies alike

“This situation is clearly shaking the ethical foundations of economic growth of our country, and we must pay attention to it,” she said.

The Chief Justice Forum was on the theme: “Building the Pillars of Justice,” and had in attendance various stakeholders, including traditional leaders and civil society organisations.

The Chief Justice called for an ethical culture of fairness and equity by all and said also the culture of rule of law should be revered to be able to ensure stability and safety and confidence.

She said the Judicial Service worked at advancing its electronic justice initiative, and which should be “collectively embraced” for more effective justice delivery.