Management of stool land revenue in Ghana: A study of the Nkawie and toase stools of the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region

Abstract

Land plays an important part in the socio-economic development in Ghana. In fact apart from the spiritual dimension of land in the Ghanaian context, it contributes about 60 % of the GDP of the country. Out of the total contribution, the non state sector, made up of individual, family and customary sectors contribute about 80 %. Despite constitutional and statutory interventions in the administration of this sector, not much has been achieved in that regard. The management of stoollands, however, has for long time been beset with many problems including indeterminate boundaries of stool lands, poor record keeping which often results in multiple sales and chieftaincy disputesthat invariably affect the security of tenure of purchasers and for that matter the productive use of land. Given the constitutional importance of stool lands, this research investigates the impact of stoolland revenue in rural areas using Toase and Nkawie Stools of the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region. To this end, the research assessed the performance of key stakeholders like theStools, District Assembly and Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) Regional Office.