CONCLUSION 6.1.3 Corruption 8. Corruption, a publicly acknowledged phenomenon, remains prevalent in all spheres in Ghana. On several occasions, the government has declared a policy of zero tolerance to corruption. Various legal and institutional measures have been taken in recent years to combat the problem. However, these efforts have not met with sufficient success. The government is urged to take serious note of the various recommendations in this report for a more intensive campaign against corruption in the country. 6.1.4 Decentralisation 9. For some years now, Ghana has been involved in a very comprehensive programme of decentralisation. The devolution of power to regional and local authorities covers not only political structures, but also fiscal policies, socio-economic development programmes and other aspects of public administration. The strategy is opening up many opportunities for enhanced development in rural areas, and has created huge expectations among these communities. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the government to employ all possible means at its disposal to speed up this broad-based programme of decentralisation. Decentralised institutions and agencies will need the appropriate capacity to implement and administer the programmes so as to ensure that the decentralisation policy is sustainable. 6.1.5 Land issue 10. Land is central to the livelihoods of the majority of Ghana's population. The matters of ownership of land, access to land, arrangements for the transfer and registration of land, and the protection of land ownership have cropped up as contentious issues in all four thematic areas. Ghana has a peculiar and complex land tenure system that reflects the country's unique traditional political organisations such as chieftaincies, the sociocultural differences and divergent regional traditions. Insecurity of tenure is endemic and has a bearing on both poverty reduction and economic growth. It inhibits, for example, the transformation of the agricultural sector from subsistence farming into a more dynamic entrepreneurial activity. Failure to provide for the protection of land rights also places the poor, the vulnerable and women at most risk. By and large, the land issue is still considered problematic, sensitive and generally too complex. 11. Although sensitive, the problem of land must be addressed, albeit sympathetically 141