The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has urged directors, chief executive officers and heads of agencies under the Ministry to significantly improve their output in 2026, describing the year as decisive for the government’s reset agenda.

According to him, the government’s second year in office demands stronger commitment, clearer results and measurable progress in line with President John Dramani Mahama’s vision.

Mr Buah made the call at the Ministry’s start-of-year retreat on Friday, January 30, where he described the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry as the “heartbeat of the country”, stressing the need for all stakeholders to be deeply invested in its vision and objectives.

Addressing directors, CEOs and agency heads, he called for stronger collaboration across the lands, mines and forestry sub-sectors to maximise output.

“This year, 2026, is a decisive year. Ghanaians have been patient with us, but this is the year our dear citizens will begin to demand more answers, and we can’t afford to fail them,” the Minister said.

He emphasised the need for deliberate planning, regular performance reviews and accountability.

“The only way we can achieve what we all plan to do is to strategise,” he added.
“Every quarter, this is the plan; this is what we are going to do. Everybody must commit to it, and at the end of each quarter we must check our KPIs and hold ourselves accountable, so that by the end of the year we can say with confidence that we delivered.”

The retreat also highlighted ecotourism and climate action as key growth areas. The Minister pointed to the vast but largely untapped potential of forest reserves in the Western Region, including Ankasa.

Speaking at the event, the President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, commended the Ministry’s leadership and urged participants to anchor their strategies in history, culture and mindset.

He stressed that land and natural resources are communal assets and warned that legal frameworks borrowed wholesale from foreign systems continue to fuel land disputes.

Nana Nketsia called for genuine decentralisation and digitalisation of land administration, noting that communities should not be compelled to travel long distances to register land in an era of advanced technology.

He also challenged participants to rethink issues of poverty and value creation in the extractive sector.

“The person who truly needs my resources is not me; it is the one sitting abroad who depends on them,” he said.

The three-day retreat, which brought together directors, CEOs and agency heads, provided a platform for candid assessments of performance in 2025 and strategic planning for 2026.