Queen mothers across the sixteen administrative regions in the country have been trained on how to deal with land related disputes in their respective localities.

The capacity-building exercise saw the traditional rulers being oriented on the various land tenure systems in Ghana, as a way of helping reduce the canker of land disputes in the country.

The engagements also focused on the new land Act, which saw participants being oriented on some of the relevant portions.

The workshop, which was held in Accra on Thursday, saw about forty-four (44) queen mothers actively participating in the knowledge sharing session.

The training took the form of presentations by facilitators, which were followed by open discussions and questions from participants.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the lead facilitator and Executive Director of COLANDEF, Nana Ama Yirrah, said her outfit is committed to ensuring that issues of land-related agitations and communal conflicts are brought to an end.

According to her, the lack of adequate knowledge and detailed information on the acquisition on land and its management is the main cause of the land disputes across the country.

Madam Yirrah said the widespread ignorance is what accounts for the unhealthy confrontations between landowners and their buyers, as well as the tensions in communities and amongst traditional rulers.

She however believes that the session will go a long way to clarify some of the confusing subjects which trigger confusions in both rural and urban settlements.

"We all do not have adequate knowledge and understanding of the different types of rights and interests in land.

"And so it makes the whole conversation about land and land rights very confusing. That is fundamental.

"Because of that confusion, people don't know and don't understand how they should seek clarification about the types of rights and interests they're acquiring so as to give them enough information about what it is they're acquiring when it comes to land", she stated.

"Because of the lack of knowledge, awareness and understanding, they walk themselves into the issues. And then over time, they get themselves locked up and entangled and it's so difficult to come out when you have been entangled already.

So let's do a lot of public awareness, education and support", Nana Ama added.

Speaking to the media, she also bemaoned the lack of systems in rural areas to address land-related disputes when they arise.

The land rights advocate therefore wants government and all other relevant stakeholders to intensfiy public awareness on land rights in order to mitigate the associated disturbances.

"Under the new land Act, there's the provision for setting up the customary land Secretariat.

"I know that is an enormous task, but I think government should take that responsibility a bit more seriously so that we strengthen institutional capacity at the local level.

"When that is done, we will be able to clean up the system at the local level and it will help to address many of the issues before they even arise", she stressed.

Meanwhile, Ms Yirrah also wants the general public to equip themselves on the nitty-gritty of land related issues.

This she believes will compliment the efforts of government and other stakeholders such as COLANDEF, in making land-related conflicts a thing of the past.