The Citizen | 11 September 2013
Mkapa's guide to fixing tedious land spats
By Polycarp Machira (email the author)
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is tired of land conflicts because half of the regions in the country have been experiencing an increase in standoffs on the resource and its use, becoming a veritable threat to national unity, former president Benjamin Mkapa has observed.
This calls for a comprehensive land use and clear delineation of pasture and agricultural land. “It is a costly fallacy to think that the whole territory on the Mainland is pasture land!” he said.
He warned Tanzania to be very cautious when allocating huge plots of land to foreign investors in the rush to cope with globalisation, noting that the country should strive for a win-win situation in the process.
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Failure to survey and register land, in addition to centralised and bureaucratic process in acquisition of the resource in the country, he said, were major causes of conflict.
He added that power should be sufficiently devolved to local authorities and managerial capacity enhanced.
The former president also noted that an efficient land management regime was a prerequisite for entering into ownership and for transferable transactions that are formal and legal.
But even where there is no formal or legal exclusion of the right to own land, he noted, the right was not sufficiently incorporated and was therefore difficult to enforce.
Presenting a paper at the international conference themed ‘Land Justice for Sustainable Peace in Tanzania’ held in Dar es Salaam, the former president however downplayed fears that a lot of Tanzanian land had been grabbed by foreigners.
He noted that there was a need to support local farmers to make them become viable producers, thus the call to review the impression of commercial farming. Local farmers should change from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
For Tanzania to succeed, it has to boost agricultural productivity by investing in new technologies and mechanisation.
Mr Mkapa, a former champion of globalisation, acknowledged that it was both a blessing and a curse, saying it had led to large scale land acquisition around the developing world by foreign companies and investors.
“We live in a globalised world and our resources are global. If we leave our resources, others will come to exploit them...we should be very careful in the procedure,” said the former president.
Mr Mkapa noted that through MKURABITA, the government surveyed 88,245 hectares of land, issued 63,438 title deeds inn some 41 districts adding that lack of finance constrained the process.
He however acknowledged that the government through the Ministry for Livestock has set aside 1.28 million hectares for pastoralists.
He said 781 villages have land titles and among them 479 have allocated pastures for pastoralists in 69 district councils.
He warned that the government should not try communal ownership of land and production as his government tried it but failed.
“Communal agriculture will not change things in this country, if we have to succeed we have to ensure people have security of their natural resources” he added.
But the former president strongly defended himself when challenged to state why his government failed to do all that he was advising the current regime.
HakiArdhi director Yefred Miyenzi asked Mr. Mkapa why his government or the current government has failed in solving land related issues.
“Would you specifically say what you did while in office now that you have mentioned the key challenges in land acquisition?”asked Mr.Miyenzi.
But the emotionally-charged Mkapa only responded that Tanzanians should stop distorting the issue.
“Let me say it openly, I know the media is here, I wonder why you people just generalize issues, give me a list of foreign companies that have grabbed land and I will work on it” he said.
He argued that instead of advocacy, some CSOs and NGOs have turned to activism, using rumors to shore up negative public sentiment.
For her part, minister for Land, Housing and Settlement, Anna Tibaijuka assured Tanzanians that no foreigners will take their land freely as being speculated.
“Chances of Tanzanian land being lost to foreigners is just a myth as the laws are so bureaucratic that a foreigner cannot just acquire land that easily” Ms Tibaijuka said.
Retired President Benjamin Mkapa attributes the increase in legal tussles over land to excessive red tape and to government's failure to formalise ownership.
Mkapa's guide to fixing tedious land spats
By Polycarp Machira (email the author)
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is tired of land conflicts because half of the regions in the country have been experiencing an increase in standoffs on the resource and its use, becoming a veritable threat to national unity, former president Benjamin Mkapa has observed.
This calls for a comprehensive land use and clear delineation of pasture and agricultural land. “It is a costly fallacy to think that the whole territory on the Mainland is pasture land!” he said.
He warned Tanzania to be very cautious when allocating huge plots of land to foreign investors in the rush to cope with globalisation, noting that the country should strive for a win-win situation in the process.
.jpg?1378995609)
“Chances of Tanzanian land being lost to foreigners is just a myth as the laws are so bureaucratic that a foreigner cannot just acquire land that easily” says Minister for Land, Housing and Settlement, Anna Tibaijuka.
He added that power should be sufficiently devolved to local authorities and managerial capacity enhanced.
The former president also noted that an efficient land management regime was a prerequisite for entering into ownership and for transferable transactions that are formal and legal.
But even where there is no formal or legal exclusion of the right to own land, he noted, the right was not sufficiently incorporated and was therefore difficult to enforce.
Presenting a paper at the international conference themed ‘Land Justice for Sustainable Peace in Tanzania’ held in Dar es Salaam, the former president however downplayed fears that a lot of Tanzanian land had been grabbed by foreigners.
He noted that there was a need to support local farmers to make them become viable producers, thus the call to review the impression of commercial farming. Local farmers should change from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
For Tanzania to succeed, it has to boost agricultural productivity by investing in new technologies and mechanisation.
Mr Mkapa, a former champion of globalisation, acknowledged that it was both a blessing and a curse, saying it had led to large scale land acquisition around the developing world by foreign companies and investors.
“We live in a globalised world and our resources are global. If we leave our resources, others will come to exploit them...we should be very careful in the procedure,” said the former president.
Mr Mkapa noted that through MKURABITA, the government surveyed 88,245 hectares of land, issued 63,438 title deeds inn some 41 districts adding that lack of finance constrained the process.
He however acknowledged that the government through the Ministry for Livestock has set aside 1.28 million hectares for pastoralists.
He said 781 villages have land titles and among them 479 have allocated pastures for pastoralists in 69 district councils.
He warned that the government should not try communal ownership of land and production as his government tried it but failed.
“Communal agriculture will not change things in this country, if we have to succeed we have to ensure people have security of their natural resources” he added.
But the former president strongly defended himself when challenged to state why his government failed to do all that he was advising the current regime.
HakiArdhi director Yefred Miyenzi asked Mr. Mkapa why his government or the current government has failed in solving land related issues.
“Would you specifically say what you did while in office now that you have mentioned the key challenges in land acquisition?”asked Mr.Miyenzi.
But the emotionally-charged Mkapa only responded that Tanzanians should stop distorting the issue.
“Let me say it openly, I know the media is here, I wonder why you people just generalize issues, give me a list of foreign companies that have grabbed land and I will work on it” he said.
He argued that instead of advocacy, some CSOs and NGOs have turned to activism, using rumors to shore up negative public sentiment.
For her part, minister for Land, Housing and Settlement, Anna Tibaijuka assured Tanzanians that no foreigners will take their land freely as being speculated.
“Chances of Tanzanian land being lost to foreigners is just a myth as the laws are so bureaucratic that a foreigner cannot just acquire land that easily” Ms Tibaijuka said.
