President John Dramani Mahama has appointed legal practitioner and surveyor Gad Asorwoe Akwensivie as the Acting Administrator of Stool Lands.
Akwensivie, who takes 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 collaborate with traditional authorities, the Lands Commission, the National Development Planning Commission, the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, and other relevant agencies.
Prior to his appointment, Akwensivie 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. In addition to his career as a lecturer and farmer, Akwensivie brings 25 years of local practice and experience in land administration, having worked in Rwanda, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the USA.
After completing his national service in 1999 at OASL, Akwensivie was employed in 2000 as an Assistant Stool Lands Officer. Over the years, he rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Chief Stool Lands Officer.
He served on the Audit Committee and was a Member of Management for four years, contributing significantly to the operations department, particularly in mining, communication, legal, and research.
Akwensivie played an active role in the implementation of the Land Administration Project and collaborated with Parliament on the passage of the Land Act 2020 (Act 1036). He also worked with the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department, the Lands Commission, and the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority.
He represented OASL in court and appeared before the Judgement Debt Commissioner and the Constitutional Review Commission. Akwensivie also 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, 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.