Land tenure denotes the various laws, rules and obligations governing the holding and/or ownership of rights and interests in land. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the dominate land tenure system is the customary land tenure.
The major characteristics of customary tenure is that the land is regarded as belonging to the whole social group and not to an individual. It is also referred to as a system of land relation in which the ownership of the land is vested in a collective (whether a family, lineage or a clan) while the individual enjoys virtual unrestricted rights of usage.
According to Ollennu, every parcel of land in Ghana has an owner.
As Ollennu indicated, ownership of land is vested in more than one person and the right, title or interest vested in one may be different materially from the right, title or interest vested in the other(s).
Thus one person may have the absolute ownership of land vested in him, another may have the right of immediate enjoyment of the beneficial interest in the same land vested in him, while yet another may have vested in him a right by licence to use the land for a specific purpose .‘Example to build, fell palm trees, to grow seasonal crops or to fish in creeks for a specific number of years.
Ownership of land is expressed in terms of rights exercisable over such land. It is the bundle of rights that enable a person to exercise ownership of the land.
Types of Customary Land Tenure
The customary sector holds 80 to 90percent of all the lands in Ghana and these lands are held by individuals and families, communities represented by stools, skins and families and in some areas, Tendamba or clans.
The various types of ownership of land in customary law are: Allodial or paramount title (interest), Sub Paramount title (interest), Usufructuary/Customary freehold interest, Tenancies, Licences and Pledges.