TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE TANZANIA LAND TENURE SYSTEM AND THE KILIMO KWANZA STRATEGY

Transcription

1 TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE TANZANIA LAND TENURE SYSTEM AND THE KILIMO KWANZA STRATEGY A paper presented by Yefred Myenzi of HAKIARDHI to MS Tanzania thematic team meeting on 23 rd February 2010

2 Background The history of land tenure system in Tanzania dates back to pre-colonial period before 1880 s when different tribes had their own ways of accessing, owning, controlling and disposing off land Land was allocated to the user for its use, not hoarding, and when disputes arose, the clan and tribe elders were vested with powers to resolve through customary mechanisms

3 The colonial land tenure system The German rule transferred land ownership from communities to King Kaizer by way of decree in This decree declared all land in Tanganyika where occupied or not, utilized or not to be under German rulers. The British who ruled Tanganyika between 1919 to 1961; declared the land to be public but vesting it in the Governor on behalf of the queen; enacted land act no.3 of 1923 that recognized duo tenure systems deemed rights of occupancy and granted

4 Colonial phase Granted rights of occupancy was more protected than customary tenure Land was alienated from communities for large scale farming by imperial colonial companies and state sponsored companies Local communities lost their rights and control over land Land disputes and resistance emerged as attempts to reclaim land rights and land in general e.g majimaji war Other bad laws were enacted that further undermined common person and his control over resources e.g the town and country planning ordinance of 1956 as amended in 1976 and 2007

5 Post independence land tenure system s Land was still declared public but vested to the president as trustee on behalf of all the citizens The president has the radical title which refers to the ultimate powers for allocation, revocation of titles, transfers and acquisitions Presidential powers for acquisition were reinforced by the land acquisition act no.47 of 1967 BUT this is done subject to fulfillment of four basic requirements

6 Acquisition Serving a notice of intention to acquire land to the respective authorities Ninety days period for objection if any Valuation of assets and properties in case there is no objection or the objection has been cleared Payment of prompt and fair compensation (bare land, improvements, disturbance, loss of profit, transport, cost for acquiring subject land)

7 s Two major events occurred in 1970 s with a bearing on land rights of small holders. First was VILLAGEZATION or resettlement operation and second establishment of state estates. This resulted into massive alienation of land from people and allocation of the same to NAFCO, NARCO and other parastatals Resettlement also resulted into loss of land for villagers as new boundaries were formed some of which are still disputed to date The village and ujamaa villages act was enacted in 1975 leading into formation of new villages and definition of village land allocation to village councils

8 1980 s Intensive implementation of ujamaa policy but also a beginning of crises in many aspects Land sector was characterized by dubious transactions in allocation of titles, black market on land deals, poor land conflict management due to weak institutions, lack of relevant (time conscious) land policy and law and corruption was rampant Immense pressure for land regime change from both within and outside the country to respond to market forces

9 1990 s to 2000 s The presidential Commission formed in 1991 and finishes the work in a year time with comprehensive recommendations The National land policy enacted in 1995 but amended in 1997 Land Act no.4 and village land act no 5 enacted in 1999 after debating from 1996 bill The law becomes operational in 2001 but goes through amendment in 2004 Three laws enacted in 2007.i.e Land use plan act, town and country planning act, planners registration board act In 2008, Unit titles act and in 2009, mortgage financing act

10 What is in the laws? Land is public but vested in the president Land divides in three categories, i.e village, general and public Ownership is through deemed or granted rights both with equal status Access is through inheritance, allocation by village or central government, purchase, gift etc Men and women have equal access to and ownership rights

11 Key issues in the Tanzania land tenure system Power relations central versus local. Land divides into general, village and reserve. Why is it that village land is often encroached by other categories? Why is it that villagers have powers to allocate only 50 acres and any size bigger than that the central government intervenes? Security of tenure is it guaranteed through titling or formalization of ownership? What about sale of titles? Special groups consideration. Section 3(2) of both laws give women same rights as men on land what about the concerns of the pastoralists that the law is unfriendly to them? Is there protection of pastoralists as special group in the law?

12 Issues Clash of legislation. Section 2 of act number 4 defines general land to include unoccupied and unutilized village land where as village land act doesn t. Game controlled areas under ministry of Natural resources are as well village lands under the ministry of local government Mining concessions are offered within village lands without prior consent and approval by respective village organs Land conflict management is still facing serious challenge of institutional reorganization resulting into increase in land conflicts. In villages,,most village land councils are either not established or disfuntional

13 Issues Lack of training for members of the council tells the nature of arbitration they give to clients At ward level, there is a serious governance crisis. WT is accountable administratively to District Council, sends appeals to District land and Housing tribunal while criminal and civil cases follow the normal appeal route to the primary court. This has always confused members of the tribunal in terms of their accountability and resourcing of the institutions At the district level, there is a proposal from the judiciary that DLHT be removed from the land courts system so that land cases are filed before ordinary courts. This reduces access to justice by the communities

14 Issues Investment in rural land is it an opportunity to local communities or threat to their land rights? In a situation where land use plan is not yet done, and where the investor foots the land use plan cost, villagers stand a chance to loose their rights to prompt and fair compensation and their land Surveying of villages is slowly done as up to 2006 only 4,170 were surveyed out of more than 10,000 villages

15 Land and kilimo kwanza strategy A strategy between government and private sector to boost up agricultural production and commercialization of There are ten pillars i.e political will, financing kilimo kwanza, institutional reorganization, paradigm shif to strategic framework, land, incentive, industrialization, science, technology and human resources, infrastructure development and lastly mobilization of People (Tanzanians) The fifth pillar has several implications to the small holder farmer

16 Land rights and kilimo kwanza Land law amendment will facilitate grabbing of land from villagers to private investors Politicians interference e.g RCs Establishment of land bank equally will lead to land grabbing in village land Land use plans needed prior to any other process

17 What is required of different actors? The government. Enacting good laws is just one step having them implemented is another. The government should facilitate implementation of land and related laws e.g preparation of land use plans, surveying and issuing of titles, awareness raising through publications and mass media CSOs have the role to identify gaps in the laws and advocate for their amendment.. So lobbying and advocacy for legislative changes Broad based public awareness raising by both govt and CSOs

18 Lets discuss Thank you for listening Yefred