Land Dispute Resolution in Ghana - Role of Customary Land Secretariats

As a basic economic asset to humanity, land isinvariably a source of power and wealth, andtherefore has an increasing demand. The current trend of population growth andurbanization has enhanced the economic value of landincreasing competition and land scarcity. The neteffect of this is an ever increasing dispute over land and land resources. However, most developingcountries including Ghana lack an effective andefficient system for dealing with such disputesespecially at the customary level. The alarmingnature of the incidence in Ghana is showcased by thefact that, as at 2003 the number of backlog of landcases in the courts stood at about 35,000. Theeffects of such disputes on the socio-economicdevelopment of Ghana are so devastating that it hascaught the attention of many researchers. Thecomplexity of factors leading to land disputes requires a multi-faceted approach for resolving themand for preventing potential ones which might come upin future. The study examines how the Customary LandSecretariat (CLS) has contributed to land disputeresolution in Ghana through Alternative DisputeResolution (ADR) mechanisms.