Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been urged to prosecute persons who sell land without the legally required Land Use Certificate to curb the illegal sale of wetlands, watercourses, and floodplains.

The National President of the Local Government Service Association of Physical Planners (LoGSAPP), Gifty Nyarko, said although climate change contributed to flooding, weak enforcement of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925) remained a major driver of indiscriminate development in environmentally sensitive areas.

She told the Daily Graphic that strict enforcement of Sections 96 and 97 of Act 925 would reduce flooding, environmental degradation, land disputes, and the destruction of lives and property.

Ms Nyarko urged MMDAs to move beyond public education and consistently prosecute offenders, adding that firm enforcement of Sections 96 and 97 of Act 925 would deter illegal land transactions, protect wetlands and watercourses, and promote safer, more resilient, and sustainable communities.

Legal obligations

Ms Nyarko, who is also the Head of the Physical Planning Department of the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly, explained that Section 96 of Act 925 prohibits the sale, lease, or transfer of land unless the seller can demonstrate that it had been properly zoned or rezoned for its intended use.

She said the law also required sellers to ensure the land conforms to approved land use and to attach evidence of the approved zoning to every transfer or conveyance.

Ms Nyarko said the provisions place clear legal obligations on chiefs, family heads, private landowners, estate developers, land agents, and all persons involved in land transactions.

She expressed concern that although the law had been in force since 2016, many assemblies had failed to enforce it, allowing wetlands, watercourses, floodplains, road reservations, and other protected lands to be sold for development.

Ms Nyarko urged MMDAs to educate chiefs on the provisions of Act 925, explaining that while traditional authorities played an important role in land administration, many were unfamiliar with the law.

She stressed that chiefs and customary landowners should allocate land only in conformity with approved structure plans or local plans, explaining that ownership of land did not automatically confer the right to allocate or develop it for any purpose.