THE STATE OF LAND
RIGHTS IN TANZANIA
Paper to be presented to the Human Rights and Governance
of Natural Resources in Tanzania organized by the
Department Geography –UDSM 23-27February 2015.
BY; VALENTIN NGORISA
OUTLINE
 Introduction
The History of Land tenure in TZ
The Land Laws and Land Rights of small
producers
The state of Land Rights
 Land Rights of small producers dates back before,
during and after colonial masters in Tanzania;
1. Before colonial rule
2. During Colonial Rule
3. After Independence
BEFORE COLONIAL RULE
 The history of land rights 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 it use not
hoarding and when disputes arise the clan and tribe
elders were vested with power to resolve through
customary mechanisms.
COLONIAL RULE
1.GERMAN ERA
The promulgation of the famous Imperial Decree of
26 th November 1895 set in motion the philosophy of
land ownership under German rule (URT 1994).
According to the subject piece of legislation, all land
occupied whether occupied or not, was treated as unowned crown land (Olenasha 2004).
2. BRITISH ERA
 The British retained basic principles of land tenure
that were put into place by the Germans
 The Land Tenure Ordinance (herein Land Ordinance)
declared all lands to be public lands “under the
control and subject to the disposition of the Governor
to be held and no title to the occupation and use of
any such lands shall be valid without the consent of
the Governor”(Shivji, 1998). Sections 2 and 3 of the
Land Ordinance, 1923.
 Statutory & Customary Ownership
AFTER INDEPENDENCE 1961…..
 Arusha Declaration/villagisation-(opereshion vijiji)
 Nationalization Policies
 Presidential Commission of Inquiries into Land
Matters
 Land Policy
 Land Acts
LAND…..
 Land; as defined by the land laws (sec.2) includes
surface of the earth and below the surface and all
substances other than minerals, gas and
petroleum.
 CATEGORIES OF LAND;
1.Village Land….Land Act 4 of 1999 Sect.4
2.General Land…Land Act 4 of 1999.Sect 2.. land
which is not reserved land or village land and it
includes un occupied or un used village land . The
village land Act (VLA) No. 5 defines general land
as land which is not reserved or village land but
does not include any of village land whether
occupied or un used. (what does this imply?)
3.Reserved Land….Land Act 4 of 1999 Sect.6 (1)
LAND IN TANZANIA
GOVERNANCE VS LAND RIGHTS
 Village Assembly….decision making organ, allocating
less than 50acres (Less informed on land laws)
 Village Councils…Executive power
 Ward Development Committee….advisory body/less
power
 District Councils….advisory (less than
500acres),accountable to village and Commissioner
for Lands (less&above 500acres)
 Wildlife Departments ….WMAs
 Lack of Comprehensive Land use Plan (1400/14000
villages)
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT ORGANS AT LOCAL
LEVEL
 Village Land Councils (VLC)
 Ward Tribunals (WT)
 District Land and Housing Tribunal (DLHT)
CHALLENGES ….VLC
 Not established in all the villages (25 out of 415 in
10 districts)
 Lack of understanding of land issues
 Vary in traditions & customs (More than 120 tribes)
 Less involvement of women (traditional male
dominated)
 No budget (Under care of the District Councils)
 Charging communities very high price in resolving
cases (vary from 5,000-100,000)
CHALLENGES ….WT
 Geographical locations of villages
 Area & value limitation
 Under funded
 Lack of understanding
 Very expensive for normal villagers (10,000200,000Tshs)
DLHT
 Very few established (42 working out of 48)
 Overcrowded with land cases
 Representation of an Advocate
 Language barriers (Kiswahili vs English language)
LAND RIGHTS VS INVESTMENT/LAND GRAB
 Tanzania like many other country in the World has been
promoting Foreign direct investments (FDI) with/out the
policy regulating some of the sector. Some of the sectors
being advocated by the government are not limited to;
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Mining
Carbon
Biofuel
Cash vs Food
Conservation and Tourism (TIC,2014)
These are respectively related, but not only limited, to:
(1) Wildlife Attractions (2) Leisure Hunting; (3) Military
Expansion (4) Financial Crisis; (5) Climate Change; (6)
Oil Prices and (7) Food Needs. (See Chachage,
2013;Land Grab-Cum- Acquisition)
MINING VS LAND RIGHTS
Former Geita Gold Mine..Source HAKIARDHI 2011,Uhai Newsletter
LAND RIGHTS VS INVESTMENTS IN THE
SAGCOT
8,200 ha acqu
(Sun-bioful
East…Mtan
11 Village
Several
reque
acqu
22,000ha
acquired by EcoEnergy
(sugarcane)
More than 10,000ha
acquired by New Forest
in Kilolo-6 villages
affected
Several campanies
e.g KPL,K
sugar,Ramsar Site,
GCA
More than 14,000ha
acquired for CC of
Idete community (GR)
Photo: Par t of the over 10,000 Hectares of Village Land
Acquired/Grabbed by ‘New Forests Company’ from the United
Ki ngdom for Planting Tr ees in Kilolo District of Ir inga in the Southern
Highlands of Tanzania
Source: Land Rights Research and Resources Institute Report (2010) on
Accumulation by Land Dispossession and Labour Devaluation in Tanzania: The
Case of Biofuel and Forestry Investment in Kilwa and Kilolo
RE-THINKING CONSERVATION VS LAND
RIGHTS
 16 National Parks
 44 Game Controlled
 31 Game Reserves
 4 Ramsar Sites
 33 WMAs
 6 Nature reserves
 2 marine parks and
 16 famous historical and cultural sites.
Source URT, (2013)Tanzania Investment Centre; the List of
Investment projects
‘90% are Range Lands guess’ what?
CONT…
 2006-2007 Expansion of Ruaha National Park from
10,300sq km to 20,226 sq km. (8 villages are in
conflicts with Park Authorities)..Ndaskoi 2014
 2008 Expansion of Lake Manyara National Park
330sq km to 648 sq km (2 villages are in conflicts)
 2005 Saadani Game Reserve upgraded to National
Park (14 villages affected and are in conflicts with
park authority) HAKIARDHI, 2014. ‘Authors of
Conservation’
 1,500sq km of pasture& farmland exclusively for
conservation
 2005-2014: 33 WMAs (new conflicts and POWE
shift)
‘AUTHORS OF CONSERVATION’?
Quote ; From Saadani residents ‘Our generous support and protective
sense to wildlife have ended us landless ‘.
• Compensating 21illegal
occupants
• Poachers
• Future investments for whose
benefit?
Source; HAKIARDHI 2014. Saadani Fact Finding Mission report
SHIFTING THE IMPACTS
Farmers vs Pastoralist land conflicts
INTERNALY DISPLACED
NEW FORMS OF
DISPUTE
SETTLEMENT?
LAND RIGHTS VS URBAN & PERI-URBAN
DEV
• Satelite Cities (Kiga,
Kawe &USA River)
• Kipawa, Kwembe etc
Compensation has never put the victims
in the better position, but instead worsens
their situation because land valuers are
trained to use minimal standards (Bergius
2012).
348 Former Kipawa residents still living in un-surveyed and unserviced envirnonment
at Kigilagila area 6 years after relocation.
CONCLUSION
THANK YOU