Gad Asorwoe Akwensivie appointed Acting Administrator of Stool Lands
President John Dramani Mahama has appointed legal practitioner and surveyor Gad Asorwoe Akwensivie as the Acting Administrator of Stool Lands.
Akwensivie, who is taking over from Maame Ama Edumadze-Acquah, will lead the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) in implementing the government’s agenda to transform land management and administration for accelerated development. He will work in collaboration with traditional authorities, the Lands Commission, the National Development Planning Commission, the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, and other relevant agencies.
Before his appointment, he was an Associate at Awoonor Law Consultancy, Principal Valuer at Felix Dzubey and Co., and Head of Legal and ADR at COLANDEF Land & Property Rights.
As a lecturer and farmer, Akwensivie comes to the role with twenty-five years of local practice and experience in land administration from Rwanda, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the USA.
After his national service in 1999 at OASL, Akwensivie was employed in 2000 as an Assistant Stool Lands Officer. He rose through the ranks from Assistant Stool Lands Officer to Stool Lands Officer, Senior Stool Lands Officer, Principal Stool Lands Officer, and Deputy Chief Stool Lands Officer.
Akwensivie served on the Audit Committee and was a Member of Management for four years. Over a 23-year period, he worked in the Operations Department focusing on mining, communication, legal, and research.
He was actively involved in the implementation of the Land Administration Project and worked with Parliament on the passage of the Land Act 2020 (Act 1036). Additionally, he collaborated with the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department, the Lands Commission, and the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority.
Akwensivie worked with Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, the National House of Chiefs, the Regional Houses of Chiefs, Traditional Councils, and land-owning communities. He represented OASL in court, appeared before the Judgement Debt Commissioner and the Constitutional Review Commission, and served as the Chief Editor of the Our Heritage Journal of OASL. In 2023, he transitioned into private surveying and legal practice.
Between 2000 and 2023, Akwensivie served on several committees, including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) Presidential Transition Committees, the MLNR Research and Statistics Working Group, the MLNR Procurement Committees, the MLNR Website & Library Development Committee, and the MLNR Annual Meet-the-Press Committee, where he was Chief Editor of the LANAR Newsletter.
He also served on the Communications & Safeguards Committee, the Land Administration Project Procurement Committee, and was Editor for the LAP website and news magazine.
From 2008 to 2016, while at OASL, Akwensivie served on the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) Multi-Stakeholder Group at the Ministry of Finance.
In 2009, while at OASL, he was nominated by the President of the Republic to serve on the Public Servants Housing Loan Scheme Board (PSHLSB) at the Ministry of Works and Housing, where he later became Chair from 2013 to 2016.
Akwensivie has also worked closely with development partners including the World Bank, African Development Bank, GIZ (formerly GTZ), and land-based Non-Governmental Organisations such as COLANDEF Land and Property Rights.
From 2015 to 2019, he was invited five times consecutively by the World Bank to speak at its annual land conference in Washington D.C., USA, where he provided insights into land-based investments in Ghana and Africa. He has also been a regular participant at the Conference on Land Policy in Africa, organised by the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Akwensivie holds a BSc. Land Economy, LLB Laws, MSc. Environment and Development, MBA Finance, and a Doctor of Business Administration. These were obtained from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Law Faculty), University of East Anglia – Norwich, London College of Management Studies, and the University of Leicester respectively.
He also holds a Barrister-at-Law certificate from the Ghana School of Law and multiple diplomas in land management. He is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, where he served on the Valuation and Estate Surveying Divisional Committee, Research Committee, and the Board of Examiners.
He is an honorary consultant at the Centre for Business & Economic Research (UK) and a member of the Ghana Bar Association, the International Federation of Surveyors, and the Commonwealth Association of Surveying & Land Economy. He is currently the President of the African Real Estate Society (Ghana).
Akwensivie has authored over 30 publications, including textbooks used by students and customary land managers. His most recent book, "An Introduction to Customary Land Secretariats in Ghana," was published in 2022. Other notable works include "Handbook on Land, Property & Estate Management in Ghana" and "Buying Land and Property in Ghana."
His research between 2015 and 2019 has contributed to understanding the impact of donor-funded projects in Ghana and Africa. In 2009, his work explored Ghanaians’ attitudes towards the pollution of rivers and water bodies. He has also provided insights into why mortgage institutions have struggled in Ghana and how selective government interventions could enhance the performance of local banks.
As the founder of the Journal of Business and Estate Management Research, Akwensivie continues to serve as a resource person both locally and internationally.