Are you looking into the New Land Act in Ghana? This article is part of our law school series.

According to Louis Glickman, the best investment on earth is earth. Though this statement may appear contentious, it goes to demonstrate the enormous prospects of land as an instrument for investment.

Besides investment, land is used for residential, agricultural, recreational, transportation and commercial purposes. It must be further stated that the Africans put a socio-cultural value on land.

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This view aligns with the statement that “To the Africans, the land is worth much more than its economic value. The Africans attach emotional and spiritual value to land as well (Antiedu, 2019 @ page 134 of Reading the Law).

Having regard to the above, it is essential that the State manages land in the best possible way to permit fair access, eliminate conflicts and guarantee secure titles to land. This can only be achieved through the development of a sound legal and institutional framework.

It is in the former respect that the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) has been passed.

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It is also worthy to note that the new Land Act repeals 13 enactments and re-enacts the same with modifications. The law further contains a number of novel provisions. Among these are provisions relating to the property rights of spouses.

The purpose of this article is to examine the implications of the novel provisions in the new Land Act relating to spousal rights to landed property in Ghana.

THE NEW LAND ACT AND SPOUSAL RIGHTS TO LANDED PROPERTY

According to the Committee on Lands and Forestry of Parliament which considered the Bill prior to its passage into law, the purpose of regulating the spousal right to landed property under the Bill (now law.)

The above provisions in the law have far-reaching implications for the property rights of spouses in Ghana. Five important implications may be gleaned from the law as follows:

The first implication is that landed property acquired by a person before marriage shall remain independent property of that person after the marriage. This property shall not form part of the joint property of the spouses in the marriage.

The second implication is that a landed property received by a spouse as a gift inter vivos or through a testamentary disposition shall be an independent landed property of that spouse. Such landed property shall not form part of the joint properties of the spouses in the marriage.

The New Land Act Ghana

The third implication is that a spouse who purchased landed property for valuable consideration prior to the coming into force of the new Land Act on 23^rd December 2020 shall continue to hold that immovable property as an independent property.

Such property shall not form part of the joint properties of the spouses.

The fourth implication is that if a spouse attempts to acquire land for himself or herself during the marriage but fails to indicate that intention in the transfer document, both parties shall be deemed to be parties to the transfer.

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The property so acquired shall form part of the joint properties of the spouses in the marriage.

The last implication is that a spouse cannot unilaterally sell, exchange, mortgage, lease the landed property or otherwise dispose of the same. Again, a spouse cannot unilaterally enter into a contract to dispose of or encumber a joint landed property of the spouses.

A spouse seeking to unilaterally deal with such joint landed property must first obtain a written agreement of both spouses to that effect.

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The writers take the view that the passage of the new Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) is a giant step towards dealing with the plethora of challenges confronting Ghana’s land sector.

Of particular significance is the aspect of regulating spousal rights to landed property in Ghana.

The writers commend highly the Rt. Hon. Speaker and Members of the 7^th Parliament, the Hon. Members of the Committee on Lands and Forestry, the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and other stakeholders who contributed to the passage of the new Land Act.

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The writers respectfully urge the Right Honourable Speaker and Members of the 8^th Parliament, the incoming Attorney-General to prioritize the passage of the Property Rights of Spouses Bill to comprehensively deal with the thorny issues regarding property rights of spouses in Ghana.

BENJAMIN TACHIE ANTIEDU, LEGAL PRACTITIONER & AUTHOR

Email: antiben2000@yahoo.com

GOODNUFF APPIAH LARBI, LEGAL RESEARCHER

Email: aappiahlarbi@gmail.com

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