Land title certificate (land certificate)

Ghana runs two land registration systems:

• Title registration records the title itself in a register the State stands behind, and issues a land title certificate.
• Deeds registration records the document (the indenture) but does not guarantee who owns the land.

Title registration is only available in declared registration districts. Elsewhere, which is most of the country, deeds registration applies.

Getting a certificate. Inside a registration district, the buyer's stamped indenture and a cadastral plan go to the Lands Commission's Land Registration Division. The application is published so that anyone with a competing claim can object within a set window, and then the certificate is issued.

Transfers. When registered land is sold, the transfer is recorded on the register and a new certificate or entry follows.

People often call any land document a "title deed", but in Ghana the land title certificate is specifically the title-registration document. An indenture, even a registered one, is not a land title certificate.

How long registration takes is disputed: the Commission's official target and practitioners' experience differ widely; see Sources differ.

Objections. During the publication window, anyone with a competing claim can object. Objections are investigated before the certificate is issued, and in registration districts disputes go to alternative dispute resolution before court.

Replacement. If a certificate is lost or damaged, the Commission can issue a replacement after the proper application.

Sources differ on exactly where title registration applies. All agree it covers Greater Accra and parts of Kumasi, with some including Tema, Winneba or Kasoa. The rest of Ghana uses deeds registration only; see the figures and Sources differ.