Rwanda Initiative for
Sustainable Development

Friday, 12th November 2010 EDPRS:RWANDA WORKS TO BUILD A BETTER LAND REGISTRATION SYSTEM A decade ago, Rwanda embarked on a major land reform programme. The government envisaged a new land law, supported by a land policy that claims that the new tenure system would contribute to enhancing food production social equity and the prevention of conflict. Rwandans now are able to officially claim land for the first time through a project that aims to end land conflicts or disputes. The New Time’s Godfrey Ntagungira talked to Director General, National Land Centre Dr.Emmanuel Nkurunziza (Pictured) for an insight. The National Land Centre and Office of the Registrar of Land Titles was set up three years ago. Its prominent responsibility is actually to implement the new land policy and laws that have been put together .its a principle agency for government to implement its new land tenure programme. The National Land Centre is thus involved in various aspects of land management. This ranges from land use planning, administration, registration, surveying and related components. Being a new institution, we are still building the institution. But I must also say that while setting up or by building the necessary components and units, we are at the same time rolling out the priority programmes. National land centre is facilitating land owners to prove their ownership so that they can raise loans to buy cattle and seeds to rebuild their country. The average population density for the country as a whole is over 330 people per square kilometer, one of the highest in Africa. The majority of the population lives on small holdings and mostly practices subsistence farming — which puts a strain on space and resources. The National Land Centre started a country wide campaign to map and register land plots, and also carrying out mass registration all over the country. The government made it a policy to register all land in the country. When you register your land, you have full ownership. You can sell it and transfer your land title to another person if you want. Prior to 2005, all the land belonged to the government. We believe that by registering all land ensures tenure security, so every Rwandan can live and use his land in security. We hope that it will promote investment and it can also assist in the proper utilisation of land. Land management system are being built with an endeavor of higher contribution to the country’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction, as well as promoting democracy and social quality. For such priorities we have established the necessary inputs to get them going. In this principally I will mention the land registration programme that is being undertaken as we speak. The other is the preparation of the National Land Use Master Plan which is awaiting the approval of the cabinet. These are two critical tools needed in managing land in the country. The master plan will help us in the optimal utilization of land. By this I mean assisting us in knowing what use is supposed to be allotted in a particular area. Land registration is supposed to assist us in guaranteeing security of tenure for land holders through promoting land as an economic resource. What I can emphasize is that while we are setting up, we are actually on the ground. For instance land registration is on going country-wide. Just over the last one year we have managed to register over 1.5 million parcels of land. Development in issuing land titles we issued over 12.000m and this is being done concurrently. SOLVING LAND DISPUTES Disputes are still problematic for local government as they present a heavy administrative burden and can take a long time to resolve. The majority of disputes are intra-family and are often easily resolved during adjudication. The most common dispute issues are related to inheritance and land transactions that have occurred without the permission of other owners or persons of interest. A formal title may make it more difficult to sell land without the permission of other owners, limiting the number of future disputes of this type. Along the way we meet a number of complaints are not really principally land issues. They manifest themselves through land but they are basically societal issues. If you critically look at them they are largely intra-familial issues that emanate from things like inheritance, polygamy or land sharing. It was apparent that claimants feel that succession, and avoiding succession related disputes is an important aspect of land registration. Orphans are not clearly captured in the data, as most orphaned, adult claimants would claim land according to their current status as a de facto owner, husband, wife or even brother or sister. With clarifications and clear instructions on the succession laws and the legal ownership rights of claimants, claimants have time to consider their claims and make adjustments if necessar