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emphasis on dissemination of information about the titling process, especially to traditional rulers.
Cheaper, less-precise means of survey were urged for rural areas.
The final resolutions of the conference are listed in figure 1.2. While they are not binding on
government, they will be influential in framing policy.
XI. Recommendations
1. The Lands and Deeds Registry Act should be amended to confer broad discretion on the registrar
to accept and certify any economic and appropriate parcel description as adequate for the purposes of
registration.
The system to date has been too conservative about what it will accept as the parcel
description for a registration. The need is not to specify new standards—technologies
in this area are developing with incredible rapidity—but rather to make clear the
discretion of the Registrar and to provide the resources that ensure that Surveys will
have access to these new technologies.
2. All 14-year leases should be automatically converted to 99-year leases, by law and without ground
inspection or further survey.
These leases are too short for any useful purpose, and their renewal is already
becoming a burden on the system. Proposals for a 30-year lease do not go far enough.
The sketch plans on which the 14-year leases were based are in fact accurate enough
for a 99-year leasehold. At a later date the leaseholder could pay for a more precise
survey, if there were a need. Beyond this, the current report will make no
recommendations on survey. The ministry is being ably advised by a very competent
Swedish team.
3. All future leases of State Land outside agricultural settlement schemes and urban squatter upgrading
schemes should be offered at public auction. Within those exceptions, clear criteria for selection must
be developed.
The MOL manages a vastly valuable resource and cannot expect foreign donor
assistance while it continues to give the resource away. Moreover, allowing the true
value of the resource—and differences in prices depending on potential and
location—to be recognized is a critical first step toward allowing the market to
determine the most economically effective use of the land. An auction strategy is far
simpler with freehold. If the government decides to continue a leasehold system, it is
still important that an auction system be used. But to do so, it will be necessary to
drop development conditions. With those present, it is unlikely anyone will feel it is
worthwhile to bid any substantial amount. The bidding would be on a premium which
represents the scarcity value of the lease over and above that recognized in the ground
rent. It would test the relationship between the ground rent and actual market value.