By Amie Choi
As part of the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment (WACA) project, an assessment for the possible development of a digital land management system that would address the existing land registration problems in The Gambia was done in 2024. The consultant Mr. Faris Sayegh made a three-day presentation of his assessment report to the Ministry of Lands Region Government and Religious Affairs, from Tuesday, March 4th to Thursday March 6 2025.
The purpose of this assessment was to provide a roadmap and terms of reference for the development of National Land Information System (NLIS).
Opening the session, Permanent Secretary Ebrima Sisawo welcomed the stakeholders and urged the gathering to thoroughly review the work of the consultant, and to share valuable insights and observation.
Faris Sayegh, the consultant presented on the elements of the LIS, his assessment findings, roadmap tracks and roadmap phasing. The findings highlighted that there are gaps in the land administration system, multiple levels of approval, excessive tracking efforts and insufficient incorporation of cadastral data amongst other issues.
During his assessment, the consultant reviewed land records, information and software in use by the Department of Lands and Survey and the Department of Physical Planning and Housing, the central level in Banjul and the local level including area councils, as well as software used for deeds registration within the deed registry at the Ministry of Justice and software used by municipalities.
The development of a Land Information System, which is under the Gambia Inclusive and Resilient Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (GIRAV), is part of the key policy recommendation of the draft National Land Policy being developed by the Government of The Gambia. This system, according to the consultant’s presentation will help in managing property boundaries and land parcel information (cadastral mapping), storing legal information related to land ownership and transaction (land registration), assessing land value for taxation and real estate purposes (property valuation), analysing current land use and aiding in future development planning (land use planning) and facilitating sustainable management of land resources (resource management).
Wrapping up the three-day session, PS Sisawo acknowledged the valuable participation of the stakeholders and reiterated the significant work done by the consultant. He also recognised that the Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs has been facing challenges in managing and administering land issues which can only be solved by digitisation. He assured that the Ministry will do the expected in achieving the objective of developing a NLIS.
Participants of this event included representatives from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, Ministry of Justice, Gambia Information Communication Technology Agency, and other relevant stakeholders from the line departments of the Ministry.
The Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious reaffirmed its commitment to digitising its systems for an improved and satisfactory service delivery to the Gambian people.
