Revenues from the customary lands in Ghana accrue from 

•       Minerals and Timber Royalties payments

•       Ground Rent

•       Farm Rent 

•       Vested Land

•       Mining Concession

•       Large-scale land transactions for investments

•       Compensation from compulsory acquisition by the State

The collection and disbursement of the revenues from each of the above-mentioned revenue streams is governed by state laws and managed by different state agencies. In view of the Fiduciary Principle in Article 36(8) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, Traditional Leaders represent the larger land-owning groups to collect the revenue accruing to them. For many decades, the stipulated sharing framework for the different streams of revenue from customary lands have been applied. However, some concerns have been raised by stakeholders regarding inequities in the benefit sharing framework. While Traditional Leaders are concerned about the percentage that is disbursed to Local Government Authorities for development, others also complain about how the percentages that go to the local communities are further disbursed or applied. These concerns have become more prominent in recent discussions.  

With support from the Rights and Resource Initiative (#RRI), COLANDEF is working in partnership with the Land Sector Multi-Stakeholder Platform (LSMSP), to conduct analysis of the benefit-sharing frameworks for the different revenue streams for customary lands in Ghana, their underpinning legislative provisions, and the mechanisms for sharing at the local level.  It is expected that, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, this exercise will contribute to establishing the basis for an equitable benefit sharing frameworks for all revenues accruing from the customary land sector. 

Last week, the project partners (the Land Sector Multi-Stakeholder Platform (LSMSP), Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and COLANDEF, hosted a consultative workshop that brought together diverse stakeholders to review the results from the analysis and interrogate the recommendations. 

Stay tuned for more updates and insights on the progress of this project.