The Chartered Institute of Realtors (CIR) and the Chamber of Real Estate (CRE) have recently concluded their joint lecture series on Land Law in Ghana. The series, which took place in June, July and August at the Africa Trade House was massively attended and covered a range of topics related to land law, including property rights, land registration, zoning, and land transactions.
The lectures were delivered by several experts in the field of law, including Tsatsu Tsikata, a prominent Ghanaian law luminary, Lawyer Kwame Gyan, and Lawyer Kwame Oppong-Ntim to mention a few. Some legal professionals, government agency representatives, students, individuals, and players in the real estate industry were present throughout the course.
This series commenced with one of Ghana’s finest legal experts, Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, opening with the lecture The Real Estate Industry in Ghana and National Development. Lawyer Tsikata’s coverage of the subject matter was indeed an excellent ice breaker to the series in depth having touched on the key roles and responsibilities of the players and stakeholders in the real estate industry, the shortfalls within, the need for a standardised system check of the sector, the interconnection of real estate to other key industries and its overall contribution to our national development.
Day 2 saw the involvement of Mr Frank Oppong Yeboah and Mrs Evelyn Addo both of the Republic Bank speak to the participants about Real Estate financing and legal issues; a follow-up to unfinished discussions from Lawyer Tsikata’s piece. Lawyer Kwakye-Serbeh was present with the team on the day to lecture on Introduction to Land Law, kickstarting an extensive three solid days of lectures on Land Use Planning and Zoning and Land Transactions.
Following up on the brilliant execution of the first two days of lectures, Lawyer Kwame Gyan, an astute legal tutor and practitioner with over 20 years of industry experience was at the helm of affairs to steer the participants through the issues surrounding property rights and ownership and also Land registration and documentation procedures. Lawyer Gyan’s practical experience and knowledge aided in answering the questions of attendees on both days.
The final day saw Lawyer Kwame Oppong-Ntim deliver professionally on the legal aspects of development projects with some assistance on the subject of disputes and resolutions by his able colleague Lawyer Eugene Danso Cobbold. The online community was not left out with several participants who couldn’t be present in person for the lecture participating through the Zoom platform.
The CIR and CRE have said that they plan to hold another land law lecture series in the future. They hope that the series will continue to raise awareness about the importance of land law in Ghana and provide a forum for discussion and debate on the issues facing the real estate sector.