Development Snapshot - Comment from Ghana 1

I have noticed that one of the main requirements for a lodgement of an application to be possible is an Agent. Who is an Agent? Is it the person lodging an application at any time (e.g. the owner of a parcel)? or the formal sense of an agent, who has to be recognised and registered by the Commission?

Ans. We use the term agent here in the formal sense of agency, where a person (known as the agent) acts on behalf of another person (the principal) in executing a particular function authorised by the principal in an agreement (more like a power of attorney). In SOLA therefore, agents are first registered into the system and it is only after this that they can make an application on behalf of an applicant. Individual owners cannot lodge an application into the system as of now.

We understand that this is rare in Ghana and so the customization team will have to add applicant-lodgement for Ghana to use individual applicants in addition to the use of agents. It may also be appropriate to first register the agency agreement into the system in cases where an applicant is using an agent. In this way, the agent’s activities in the registration process can be upheld by the commission as binding on the applicant.

Please note that if it is the latter, then it is not applicable in Ghana. We do not have system of registration of agents by the Lands Commission before one can lodge an application.

In any case, how can the details of an Agent be entered into a system?

By providing a form to capture his details and saving that as part of the application.