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60. Zevenbergen, Jaap: Is Title Registration Really the Panacea for Defective Land Administration in Developing Countries? Zevenbergen, Jaap Tel +31 (15) 2784418 e-mail: j.a.zevenbergen@geo.tudelft.nl ABSTRACT Most literature on land registration will pay quite some attention to the difference between deeds and title registrations. This is especially the case in Anglo-Saxon literature, where the latter type of land registration is highly praised and considered far superior. Consequently deeds registration is often held in such low esteem, that many project-proposals and papers do not really take the existence of such a system into serious consideration when trying to improve land administration practices in a developing country. Immediate introduction of title registration is usually prescribed as the overall solution to the problems. But when the problems that need to be solved are carefully considered and appropriate solutions are formulated, gradual improvement and upgrading of the present deeds registration will often stand a better change of success. Unlike the often painted black-and-white picture of title versus deeds, the classification of land registration types is multidimensional, and each option on every axis has advantages and disadvantages. An example of the very limited success of introducing title registration can be found in Ghana. After 10 years only 9000 titles have been registered, and the already cumbersome procedures for granting and conveyancing, have been extended with extra steps (often including an extra survey). Many other problems have remained unsolved. INTRODUCTION Land is one of the most vital assets of any society. The responsibilities for using this land in a way which is beneficial to the society as a whole is shared between the private and the public sector in virtually every country that exists today. In order to administer the arrangements surrounding land, a system of land administration is needed. Unfortunately in many countries the systems appear to be defective, leaving the public sector without an important instrument for the implementation of its (national) land policies and leaving the private sector with a lot of uncertainty and insecurity regarding the land they hold. There has been, and there still is, a lot of attention for the improvement of such defective systems of land administration in numerous developing countries. Land registration gets attention during such improvement projects. Land registration deals with the recording of the legally recognized interests people have in land. In most developing countries the first land registration systems were primarily limited to the areas directly under colonial influence, both geographically and land-tenure-wise. Somehow the scope of these registration system has only been extended slowly. Many of the substantial improvements made to land registration in most of the so called Western countries have not been reflected in these countries. Problems with land registration have gotten attention from Donors. There are, however, very few success stories, in which a widely accepted land tenure system has been brought on the register for a complete jurisdiction, and where this register is effectively maintained. In many projects to improve land registration, one of the main recommendations is to introduce so called title registration, which is presumed to solve many (if not all) of the problems which are being experienced. That this is not correct, can not only be seen from the numerous projects that have been less than successful, but it can be argued based upon a critical review of the most used classifications of land registration systems as well. In this paper I will shortly introduce the terms land tenure, land administration and land registration. Furthermore I will critically discuss the most used classification of land registration system in title registration and deeds registration, which I consider inadequate. Based on a case study in Ghana, that I undertook as a part of my ongoing PhD research project, I will substantiate that in my view the question from the title of this paper should be answered with NO. A more gradual approach, based on the existing land administration arrangements, has more chance to succeed, although even then some painful decisions will have to be made. TERMINOLOGY To utilize land in a way which is beneficial for the community, relations between (parts of) the land and the members of the society will be defined. The types of rights that groups or individuals can have with which they hold parts of land, constitute the system of land tenure of this community. The way land is treated in a community changes over time. Usually these changes are highly related to the developments through which the society's economy goes. When approached primarily from this economical perspective, there seems to be a tendency towards individual based land tenure systems 1. But this seems to ignore the important social and religious implications of land (e.g. regarding ancestors). The issue is further complicated by the fact that the traditional communities throughout the world have been overlaid by more or less random nation-state boundaries, and that these nations in general aim at a national land policy, including attempts to harmonize (or unify) the different approaches of the communities into a national framework (e.g. Kenya and Indonesia). Virtually all developing countries are going through such a process of harmonization of its land tenure system, often combined with attempts to come to a more equal access to land. This process is sensitive by nature, since it has an impact on the economical power balance, and it often has social and religious implications as well. It is not uncommon that such a process is combined with the improvement of land registration, which will make land registration a sensitive issue as well. One should, however, bear in mind that the so called Western countries have also gone through such processes. To implement such policies, the government needs instruments to accomplish changes and to monitor the situation. These instruments together can be called land administration. Land administration is the operational component of land tenure; land administration provides the mechanisms for allocating and enforcing rights and restrictions concerning land. Land administrative functions include regulating land development and use, gathering revenue from the land (through sale, leasing, and taxation), controlling land transactions, and providing information about the land. These functions are accomplished, in part, through the development of specific systems responsible for boundary delimitation and spatial organization of settlements, land registration, land valuation, and information management activities. 2
Land registration can be described as the process of recording legally recognized interests (ownership and/or use) in land 3. A system of land registration consists of three interrelated entities, as can be seen in the figure 4. One needs data on all three entities in order to have useful information for both for the government and the land holder. CLASSIFICATION Literature on land registration usually pays quite some attention to the difference between title registration and deeds registrations. In most Anglo-Saxon literature title registration is highly praised and considered far superior to deeds registration. Consequently deeds registration is often held in low esteem. Many project-proposals and papers therefore, do not take the existence of such a system into serious consideration in improving land administration practices in a developing country. Immediate introduction of title registration is usually prescribed as the overall solution to the problems. When the problems are carefully considered and appropriate solutions are formulated, gradual improvement and upgrading of the present deeds registration will often be a better solution. The invention of title registration is considered a simple one, though far-reaching, for in essence it merely involved a change in the unit of registration. In a system of registration of deeds it is the deed itself which is registered. A deed is a written record of an isolated transaction and is evidenced that the transaction took place, but is not in itself proof of the legal right of the parties to conduct that transaction; in consequence it is not evidence of the legality of the transaction. Before any dealing can be safely effected the person intending to purchase an interest in land must therefore trace the vendor's legal right to sell back to a good root of title, and this search must be repeated each time there is a dealing in the land. In a system of registration of title, however, it is the land parcel itself that is registered, thus effecting the transference of primary attention from the mobile, mortal, mistakable persons temporarily possessing or claiming rights over patches of the earth's surface, to the immovable, durable, precisely definable units of land affected and the adoption of these as the basis of record instead. The registers itself is proof of title and its correctness at all times is usually guaranteed by the State. The oft repeated and uncertain process of tracing ownership back to a good root of title is no longer necessary. 5 Lawrance gives five features of title registration:
As perfect as this might sound, none of these features are unique for registration of title, and the beneficial effect of introducing them, depends heavily on the existing situation. For each of the five features I will substantiate this point here.
a) Geographical and descriptive parts For anyone from one of the numerous countries where a cadastre (in the Napoleonic sense) exists, this looks like a description of such a cadastre. In case the separate plans are used, it depends heavily on the scrutiny of the surveyors if the parcels are defined properly (both technically and in relation to neighbors, esp. when they are (yet) unregistered). Quite a lot of countries operating a title registration use the separate plan approach, and relatively little use series of maps (which is a prerequisite for a Napoleonic cadastre), even though it defines a property more unambiguous, because the neighborhood relations are clear. There are actually numerous countries where, even if a series of maps exists, separate plans are an additional need for conveyance. This is an expensive exercise, with little benefit, except for the surveying community. Although the descriptive part of a Napoleonic cadastre, misses the special legal meaning which it has under a registration of title (see also under b.), its quality (and reliability) depends mainly on the question if the cadastre is quickly and completely informed of transfers or not. This usually depends on the question if the organization that performs the registry (which could be either deeds or title) co-operates well with the cadastre. If this co-operation is very good, a useful parcel-based record of owners will emerge, even under a registration of deeds. The fact that this feature is given as something special for registrations of title should be explained by realizing that in the mid 18th century England, and many countries under its jurisdiction, did not even have a rudimentary form of a deeds registration, but had to rely to a large extent on >private conveyance (with secret documents). b) Title depends on registration This is the main difference between registrations of title and deeds as conceived on the European continent 7, where we can find the (originally Germanic) Grundbuch, as a registration of title, and the conservation des hypotheques (originally related to the Napoleonic Civil Code), as a registration of deeds, both combined with cadastral maps and records. In both cases a transfer starts out with a quite formal document. Under deeds this document is accepted at face value (or sometimes after some minimal checks) and archived Under title this document is scrutinized by the registrar. If he is satisfied that everything is okay, he will make an entry in the appropriate folio of the register. Even here the document is archived. One could argue that the registrar makes a formal decision in the realm of civil law; an activity usually preserved for the judiciary. Therefore most countries demand the registrar to be a lawyer and quite often he works within the courts, or even is a judge. Unless this registrar has accepted the documents the transfer has no legal meaning. This is often seen as a main advantage of registration of title, but it also has several draw-backs. It interferes with the normal operation of civil law (esp. with contract law, but also with inheritance law and bankruptcy law). Furthermore, the so-called mirror principle tends to be turned around. It is not the register which reflects the reality on the ground, but the de facto reality on the ground is de jure superseded by what is on the register. From a purely legal perspective the situation on the ground reflects what is stated on the register. Many societies can or will not abide by such formalism, esp. when the procedures are lengthy, expensive and bureaucratic, and large informal land holdings will exist is such cases. c) Parcel based folios This feature has a strong technical-administrative context. The idea of folios per parcel stresses the importance of a parcel-based system. This structure has worked quite well in many countries through more than a century. Of course the importance of this terminology fades away when full computerization is implemented, as can be seen in Austria, although the principles remain. It is interesting to know that the lay-out of the descriptive part of most cadastres is very similar (both on paper and on screen). d) Compulsory compilation This feature does not differ from registrations of deeds. The experience through time is that systems only run well, when virtually every transfer is actually registered. Even compulsory registration does not guarantee success. When the disadvantages of going through a lengthy, expensive and bureaucratic procedure are perceived to be higher then the disadvantages of being an informal land holder, compulsion does not necessary lead to completeness. Incentives to register (both by having a smooth procedure and by having clear benefits when registered (esp. access to credit) are more likely to succeed then merely demanding registration by law 8. The fact that few parcels under deeds are voluntarily transferred into title, even in South Australia, the cradle of title registration, should be taken more seriously then it is often done. It is fine to introduce registration of title for empty state land which the government is granting to its population, but it is something else to implement it for existing land rights (see also under e.). By now there are little inhabitable places with empty state land left, and even much of the empty state land conceived in the past, did only exist in the minds of colonial powers, ignoring the indigenous land tenure systems. Often there is no real dispute about many parcels, regardless of the system they are under. There are other parcels which are disputed, and there should be a good system to solve these disputes. One way of dispute resolution is a court procedure in which the court, on the specific request of a land holder, comes, after investigation, to a judicial declaration of title. A widespread process of adjudication, however, might unveil many dormant (and often minor) disputes, leading to a lot of effort and maybe even distorting human relations in the area. A compulsory procedure to bring parcels under title registration therefor, forces people to solve problems, they were not aware of, and possibly would never have gotten aware of otherwise. e) No more investigation of title The impact of this feature is often stressed to the extreme, whereas it can be very limited in many legal systems. Investigation of title is the process of tracing back all transfers until a good root of title is found. Depending on the land tenure arrangements and the impact of adverse possession and statutes of limitations in the applicable (land) laws, this good root can already be found after checking back some twenty years (other countries use 10, 12 or 30 years). In addition to this in many jurisdictions the deeds are prepared by private practitioners who can be held liable for their work. Therefore one can rely on the fact that during the preparation of the previous transfer a good investigation was made, and thus the investigation on the next transfer can be limited to the last deed and the period passed since then. A good administered deeds register, with a parcel-based index, can make it quite easy to trace the deeds one still needs to study. Why need an official (registrar) to repeat the job, already done by a private practitioner, who can be held liable? Furthermore the guarantee is usually limited to a purchase on the register for valuable consideration and in good faith, which still means that one has to be able to prove good faith if something turns out to be wrong. Again depending on the applicable (land) laws, good faith often not only means that one did not know, but that one could not have known after making the inquiries a prudent purchaser would have made. This is little different from many deeds registrations, where non-registered transactions can not be held up against third parties in good faith who relied on the registers. Finally the Germanic version of title registration, the Grundbuch, does not contain government guarantees, but only gives š ffentlicher Glaube to the register. That means that the right holder is protected by public faith, but that counter-claims can be lodged (within a certain period) when one can proof a better right. This Germanic solution is not easy to classify in the one-dimensional classification of title versus deeds. It is, however, easier when we follow Dekker, who classifies land registration along two lines: the question which documents are registered, and the question which legal proof the contents of the land registration gives 9. This two-dimensional classification also solves the problem of how to classify the Roman-Dutch Deeds Registry system of Southern Africa. South-Africa is actually the example Dekker uses to illustrate the positive version of deeds registration. This is a better way to classify than the one Simpson uses. He concludes, after concluding that in practice the system works well, that it is misleading to classify it as a deeds system, and that it is registration of title to all intents and purposes 10. In my mind, classifying it as a deeds system is only misleading, when one has developed a biased opinion towards deeds systems. From the above I believe it becomes clear that the classification title versus deeds only has a very limited value, and that we will need a more-dimensional model of systems of land registrations. In such a model each axis represents one, more or less independent, aspect for which two or more solutions are available. Later this year I will complete my PhD thesis in which I attempt to formulate such a model. I distinguish between technical, legal and organizational aspects, although I am aware that they are interrelated as well. One of my hypotheses is also that the well functioning of the system of land registration will depend more on the organizational aspects, than on the technical or legal aspects 11. The idea that the traditional distinction between title registrations and deeds registration has only limited value, is also expressed by McLaughlin and Nichols. They argue that In practice this distinction is blurred; in some cases an improved deed registry system may provide as many, if not more, advantages than a land titles system that has inadequate arrangements for managing the information in the system. 12 THE CASE OF GHANA Land registration under deeds Land registration in Ghana goes way back into the 19th century. A basic deeds registration existed, which was based for a long time on the Land Registry Ordinance 1895. The ordinance was replaced with the Land Registry Act 1962 (Act 122), which set out to introduce an improved deeds registration, which -although it does not give title to land- provides a prima facie evidence of title to land 13. The law makes it obligatory to register any written document relating to the transfer of any interest in land, for the document shall be of no effect until it is registered (s 24 (1)). The law prescribes that such a document can only be registered if it refers to an already registered deed affecting the same land or if it contains a description (which may be by reference to a plan) which is sufficient to enable the location and boundaries of the land to which it relates to be identified (s 4). In most cases the deed is accompanied by a certified map, depicting the boundaries of the affected land, and prepared by a licensed surveyor. The law does neither call for the keeping of a cadastral index map at the Deeds Registries, nor for the approval of the certified maps by the Director of Surveys. Another attempt to come to an improved deeds registration can be found in section 20, which gives the registrar the power to refuse a deed for registration, when (a) it deals with a parcel of land inconsistent with a previously executed document whether by the same grantor or some predecessor in title; (b) on the face of the records, the grantor has no capacity to deal with the land; (c.) the instrument contravenes any existing enactment; (d) any interlineation, black erasure, or alteration has not been verified by signature or initials of the parties. The first two reasons (a and b), which could have led to a gradual improvement of the registered information, have never been enacted. Nevertheless the registrars refused deeds in cases where they believed something was wrong, until the Court of Appeal blocked the registrar's freedom to do so in 1977. The registration is performed by the Deeds Registries, which in practice function as an integral part of the Lands Commission. To fully understand the operation of the registration system, one should be aware of several other land administration activities which the Lands Commission performs. The most important ones are the granting of State (and Vested) Lands, and of giving consent and concurrence for transactions related to Stool (and Skin) Lands. The procedures for granting and giving consent or concurrence include legal scrutinizing of the documents (compensating the registrar's inability to refuse certain documents) and plotting their position on existing topographic base maps, leading to the records map (compensating the lack of cadastral index maps at the Deeds Registry). Thus every land transaction - sale, lease, assignment, sublease, mortgage, etc. is documented at the Lands Commission by reference to a map and a property number is placed on a folio of a register (this virtually constitutes a Napoleonic cadastre). Any subsequent transaction - sale, assignment, sublease, mortgage, tenancy agreement, etc. is added on to the property folio by reference to the property number and the plan. With this system it is not possible to document different transactions affecting the same plot differently. It is possible to trace the history of a particular plot for as long as the documents have been kept (usually since 1947) 14. This system, however, was not tuned towards the customary, oral transactions which were still being used in much of the (rural) areas. Introduction of obligatory recording of oral transfers was an aim of the Conveyancing Decree 1973 (NRCD 175), but this failed due to the fact that the necessary machinery to organize it was never introduced. It is estimated that at present land records exist for almost one third of the parcels in Ghana. Problems with the security of land rights Notwithstanding the above, Ghana acquired, and maintained, a reputation for suffering from mayor land litigation and other problems relating to the security of land rights. Several ways in which the system of land registration has been found wanting, are given 15: a. The registry system suffers from two major drawbacks, namely:
b. The deeds registers are not indexed geographically but by the names of the parties to the agreements. This makes it difficult to obtain easily any information about specific plots of land. It is also compounded by the fact that there is a physical separation between the Lands Department records and the Deeds Registry; c. A deed does not prove title. Hence a prospective dealer has to spend time and money tracing root of title past transactions in the land over many years, to ascertain the title of the vendor or grantor to the land concerned; d. In respect of the Conveyance Decree, 1973 (NRCD 175):
e. Both Act 122 and NRCD 175 contain scarcely any elaborate rule of procedure for adjudication and settlement of title in the deed to be registered or in the oral transfer being documented; f. Ignorance of the law: Survey of eighty villages indicate that less than 5% of the rural population is aware of the existing registration machinery and the juridical consequences of a failure to register in land; g. Dearth of adequate registration facilities; h. Cumbersome procedure: The registration procedure is cumbersome, time consuming and expensive. In my opinion virtually all of these problems may be solved by incremental changes in the existing system, and do not need a complete turnover like the introduction of title registration. Furthermore the introduction of title registration as such -although that depends on how one defines it (see above under classification), would only solve a part of them. For instance the problems given under a.-1., d. and e. could be solved by enacting or amending existing legislation. And the problems given under a.-2. and b. could be solved by improving the quality of the licensed surveyors and their work. Since an extension of the need for approval by the Director of Surveys to certified maps in 1989 has not really improved the situation, the licensing system should be improved to include a board which issues and revokes the licenses (now it is the Director alone) and a financial liability (through insurance) for the surveyors. Furthermore the keeping of the (cadastral) index map should become part of the registration operation. Introduction of title registration All the problems related to security of land rights in Ghana, created an atmosphere for the introduction of title registration. The first documented references to this even date back to 1926, and particularly famous is the Harvers Commission of Inquiry in 1945. Although, it depends on what one sees as the main feature(s) of a title registration (see before), it is my opinion that virtually all of the problems given above, could have been solved by more incremental changes in the existing system. The Ghanaians, however, decided to find recourse for these problems in the Land Title Registration Law 1986 (PNDCL 152), as the best panacea to the problems facing the land market, but on condition that certain mistakes are not repeated and certain necessary steps taken 16. The basic principle of the law is that the rights of a registered proprietor of land shall be indefeasible and shall be held by the proprietor together with all privileges and appurtenances attaching thereto free from all other interests and claims whatsoever (s 43 (1)). The law was designed in order to have registration without any changes in the substantive rights. Probably as a consequence of this, the law contains quite an extensive list of overriding interests, which prevail over registered interests. For instance a person who holds an acquired right which can not be seen on the registers, but which can be seen in the field (he has the land in actual occupation) prevails over someone relying on the registers (s 46 (1) (f)). This makes it necessary to have a field inspecting of the land before any safe transaction can be done; thus effectively taking away one of the perceived advantages of title registration. The implementation of the law was foreseen to be in the form of systematic, compulsory registration in specially declared districts (s 5). After declaration the people have to demarcate their land in the field, and the registrar has to compile a register of the information available in the deeds registry. In the mean time a registry map is prepared (by the Survey Department). Then people lodge an application for first registration at the Land Title Registry. After the fees are paid, the application is referred to the Survey Department for the preparation of a title plan. This title plan, which has to be signed by the Director of Surveys himself, is either taken from the registry map of the area, or prepared after a specific cadastral survey of the plot. The application is thereafter publicized in several newspapers and in the field. Depending on the question if more than one application is lodged, the title certificate can be issued, or the case will be referred to the Adjudication Committee. The decision of this Committee can be appealed in the High Court. Implementation problems Unfortunately the warning for the repetition of certain mistakes and the need to set certain steps, has not had its full effect. The implementation of the system has faced problems, and the transition has been significantly slower than planned (only 9000 titles after 10 years). The misgivings of the title registration can be summarized as follows 17:
These problems have occurred especially in the first districts declared in the Greater Accra Region, where the conversion of the deeds as described in section 13 has not been undertaken. At the start title was given to any one who made an application, without checking the records at the Deeds Registry. Numerous titles have been given out for parcels in areas of which there is no registry map available yet. This constellation of conduct has led to erroneous title certificates being issued in several cases. A Court has already quashed a land title certificate (18 July 1994). Banks have been reported to be more inclined towards deeds registration than mere title certificates which do not trace the root of title. Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department have not recognized title certificates, and have referred such titles to the Lands Commission for clearance of title before a building permit is issued 18. One of the main reasons for this reasonably bad start can be found in viewing the title registration in isolation from the rest of the land administration process. Whereas deeds registration is an integral part of the land administration process, title registration is either seen as an extra step after land is granted or consent/concurrence is given, or ignores the other land administration processes and registers transactions without checking if consent is given. "Land Title Registration therefore instead of making the system of land administration more efficient, rather in a large way defeats this aim." 19 Another problem lies in the fact that an entry on the register is only made, after one has acquired a title plan, even if there exists a registry map of the area involved or a certified plan which has been used in the procedures at the Lands Commission. It is also difficult to get such a title plan, since only the Director of Surveys himself issues them. Several other problems contribute to the bad start, including a lack of resources in all departments concerned. Work is being undertaken to improve the situation, including better co-operation and some amendments to the Land Title Registration Law. One of the amendments would open up the whole country for sporadic registration, which in my view is likely to cause more harm then it will do good. All in all a more gradual improvement of the deeds registration, within the framework of the land administration processes, would have given Ghana much more value for the time and money invested, than the system shift they are presently undertaking. CONCLUDING REMARKS Great emphasize and pressure has been put on the introduction of title registration in developing countries. Unfortunately this has rarely led to significant improvements in the land administration practices. In my opinion improving an existing deeds registration, within the framework of the wider land administration, would have been more appropriate, less expensive, and less problematic. Land registration should aim at serving both the private and the public sector. The discussion title versus deeds puts almost all the attention on the private sector, and seems to ignore the wider land administration system, of which it constitutes a part. This problem appears to be less experienced on the European continent, where the cadastre, with its historical emphasize on the pubic sector side, has always been closely connected to land registration, than in the Anglo-Saxon world, where multi-purpose cadastres are a relative novelty. In putting the emphasis on introducing title registration, the real problems are often evaded. Such problems could be in the field of surveying, in the uneasy balance between customary and modern land law, in the inappropriate institutional arrangements or in existence of bureaucracy and/or corruption. Really tackling these problems, keeping the limits of the country in mind, in stead of a mere introduction of title registration, will go a long way in improving defective land administration. 1. S. Rowton Simpson - Land Law and Registration, London 1976 Simpson 1976, p 228 2. J.D. McLaughlin and S.E. Nichols - Resource Management: The Land Administration and Cadastral Systems Component, in: Surveying and Mapping, No. 2, 1989, p 77-86, p 79 3. Idem, p 81 4. Jo Henssen - Basic Principles of the main cadastral Systems in the World, in: Proceedings Seminar >Modern Cadastres and Cadastral Innovations in Delft, FIG Commission 7, Melbourne 1995, p 5-10, p 6 5. J.C.D. Lawrance - Registration of Title, in: Papers Seminar >Title registration, land resource management and land use policy, Land Administration Research Centre, Kumasi 1980, p 2-27, p 2-3 6. Idem, p 4 7. Henssen, ibid, p 8 8. David W. Palmer - Incentive-Based Maintenance of land Registration Systems, PhD thesis University of Florida, Gainesville 1996 9. H.A.L. Dekker - Nationale Grondboekhoudingen, Overzicht kadastersystemen, Leiden 1986; as quoted by J.A. Zevenbergen - Characteristics of improved registration of deeds, in: Proceedings FIG XX International Congress (volume 7), Melbourne 1994, PP725, p 10 10. Simpson, ibid, p 105 11. Jaap Zevenbergen, Jaap - What makes a land registration 'go round'?, in: Proceedings of 3rd Polish-Dutch Symposium on Geodesy, Olsztyn 1995, p 171-179 12. Idem 13. Joseph K. Somevi - Registration of Interest in Land, in: The Surveyor 1995, Volume 1 Issue 18, p 35-49, p 41 14. Wordsworth Odame Larbi - Urban Land Policies and the Delivery of Developable Land in Ghana, PhD thesis University of Reading, 1994, p 305 15. A. Kodwo Mensah-Brown - Land ownership and registration in Ghana, An introductory synthesis, in: Land ownership and registration in Ghana, Land Administration Research Institute, UST Kumasi, 1978, p 1-30; as quoted by P.H. van Oorschot and W.L.M. Sosef - Land law and registration in Ghana (a study), Appendix F to Evaluation of Cocoa land use management in Ghana, Thesis TU Delft (Geodetic Engineering), February 1990 16. Mabel Minnah-Donkoh - The Land Delivery System in Shantie And Likely Effect of the Land Title Registration law 1986 on it, Thesis UST Kumasi (Land Economy), September 1990, p iii 17. Somevi, ibid, p 48-49 18. R. Kasim Kasanga - Land tenure, resource access and decentralization: the political economy of land tenure in Ghana, Paper presented at the Franco-British Conference on Land Tenure and Resource Access in West Africa, Dakar, Senegal, 18-22 November 1996, p 18 19. Joseph Amo-Mensah - The Role of the Lands Commission in Land Administration in Accra, UST Thesis (Land Economics), June 1996, p 85
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An important part of land administration is formed by land
registration (or cadastre). Like anything dealing with land, land registration is serving
both