Retired President Benjamin Mkapa attributes the increase in legal
tussles over land to excessive red tape and to government's failure to
formalise ownership. PHOTO | FILE
In Summary
- He warned Tanzania to be very cautious when allocating huge plots of land to foreign investors in the rush to cope with globalisation.
- 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.
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.
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.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
“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.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
